Teapot

Published Monday 13 October 2008 at 11:40 by Jeremy Brien

Exeter-based children’s theatre company Theatre Alibi have a strong reputation for touring quality work to venues ranging from tiny primary schools to splendid purpose-built locations like the Egg in Bath. Now they are on the road until just before Christmas with a revival of Daniel Jamieson’s delightful quintet of stories for five to 10-year-olds, built around the teapot of the title.

It might seem an unlikely link, but it allows the narrative to range over such diverse territory as Amy Johnson’s pioneering solo flight to Australia, family life on a Devon farm, a flight to the topside of the moon, the ingredients needed to succeed in life, and the forced clearance of the South Hams to provide the MoD with a wartime firing range.

At first glance this is a pretty disparate selection, and a challenging one for holding the attention of such a young audience for more than an hour. However, they are linked by the simple message that hard work and true grit can overcome most obstacles, and Theatre Alibi’s wealth of experience with live actors and imaginative knitted puppets does the rest.

Jamieson, who doubles as writer and young Jack, Jordan Whyte, who is his mother Olivia, and Derek Frood, whose multitude of characters includes feisty farmyard cat Blinky, have appeared in most of the company’s productions since this piece was first performed in 2002, and there is an attractive bonus in the live cello music of Harry Napier, played by Semay Wu.