Once again the estimable Birmingham Stage Company under its guiding spirit, Neal Foster, has come up with a seasonal tale for thoughtful children, which combines magic, mystery, excitement and a strong moral message, all of it set in the Isles of Scilly on the eve of the First World War.
A loner lives on a deserted island and slowly becomes the local scapegoat for the community’s misfortunes. Known as the Birdman, he is crippled, eccentric and shy, yet intensely concerned with the wellbeing of the island and its inhabitants.
Chris Llewellyn in the part is intensely moving, speaking with a broken voice and shuffling across the stage with the woebegone air of those who are misunderstood. There is not much to convince us he is as old as we are led to believe, but his general acting is hypnotic. The Birdman’s life is threatened by the bullying teenager, Big Tim, who accuses him of spying for the Germans.
At this point the moral message is made quite clear - those who do not fit within the general mould must be accommodated and treated with consideration and compassion like everyone else, or society is no more than a rotten vessel, caulked over to give an appearance of soundness.
Too deep for children?
Not at all, those near me were totally focussed and Smarties took a back seat.
An excellent setting by Jacqueline Trousdale of a rust-red sail and an overturned boat, set off by a few lobster pots, does very well in the atmosphere stakes, and when the narwhals arrive in the second half, to support a beached chum, we feel their mystical presence although, of course, it is all done by miming.
The onstage - and very skilled - cellist, who plays throughout the performance, is diligent and fluent. But on several occasions, she drowned out the actors - particularly during solo passages, something which could do with adjustment as soon as possible.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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