The Stage

Mischief

Published Monday 1 October 2007 at 11:55 by Peta David

I had no idea foam could be so much fun. This should be called a 100 things you can do with a piece of foam.

Theatre-Rites collaboration with Arthur Pita has come up with this hugely imaginative and entertaining dance piece specifically for children aged seven and over, although I think a younger audience would enjoy this too.

What a riot of colour and exuberance it is. This is energy personified by some very talented dancers all accompanied by the cool and charismatic Charlie Winston on key board with an amazing range of weird sound effects.

A myriad of foam pillars in all lengths and colours become countless kinds of objects and animals, from puppets and fish to more abstract landscapes where people play hide and seek.

Laura Cubitt is the clown in the frame, always one step out of sync with the other dancers and the one who gets her head stuck in the foam and has to be rescued - without her this would really be just a foam extravaganza.

You can tell they have had great fun pulling this together - it is not sophisticated or pretentious in anyway and is great introduction to theatre.

Look out for some great body popping from James Painting and your chance to handle the giant foam snake around the audience. Catch it if you can.