Heelie-go-Leerie

Published Friday 29 February 2008 at 13:15 by Thom Dibdin

Set in a piece of abandoned area where a group of kids go to play, Licketyspit’s play about play is a fantastic introduction to theatre for its target audience of three year-olds and over.

The cast spend a friendly, but never too hearty, few minutes chatting to their audience and, just before the start, introduce the concept of the play - giving explicit instruction that joining in at the crucial moments is alright.

The story itself is a delightful delve into the world of make-believe. In their retreat, Kaiser (John MacAulay), Taz (Paul Chaal) and Bella (choreographer Christine Devaney replacing the injured Annie Grace in the opening shows of the run) create their own different worlds. When they happen to all be there together for the first time, those worlds begin to overlap.

As they set off to find a way to mend the hole that has formed in the roof of the world, and is in danger of letting the smoke come in, they find dragons, witches and rhymes. And suddenly Ali Maclaurin’s cleverly designed set of old metal drums and abandoned washing machines takes on the appearance a sleeping dragon.

The use of rhymes and story lines created in workshops with nursery children makes for a pleasing level of the surreal. But director Virginia Radcliffe makes intelligent use of repetition and revelation to coax the audience along with the plot. It is a pleasure to witness this succeed and there are moments of real magic, particularly when the dragon takes flight.