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The Scarecrow and his Servant

Published Monday 15 December 2008 at 12:05 by Lalayn Baluch

Simon Reade has created a little festive cracker with his adaptation of Philip Pullman’s quirky modern fairytale The Scarecrow and his Servant, which follows the relationship of a sharp-witted young boy and a pea-brained scarecrow as they go on a quest to find a land called Spring Valley.

The atmospheric railway arch that is Southwark Playhouse becomes the Italian countryside, a battlefield and rough seas - all brought beautifully to life by Johanna Town’s imaginative and evocative lighting design - as the scarecrow’s whims take the duo from adventure to adventure.

Behind the laughs and singing is a more serious and educational warning about the threat of pollution, embodied by the evil Mafioso-like Don Giovanni Buffaloni, whose company is taking over the landscape with insecticide factories.

Reade’s production is full of joyously bizarre moments made so by the strength of the cast. My favourites were Stephanie Street’s wailing Queen Dido, who wears a huge headdress ingeniously made from coiled plastic bags, and the brilliantly depicted vultures, pigeons and owls during the Conference of the Birds.

What a treat it is to watch a family show that avoids dumbing down or hamming up, and is instead a genuinely funny, sweet and an entertaining play for people of all ages.

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