Simplicity and silliness are the keys to Lu Kemp’s show aimed at three- to six-year-olds. Driving the whole production is Julia Innocenti as DogBog, a husky belonging to Ros Sydney’s moustachioed, self-centred Captain Scot Scott.
While Scott is on a mission to find the last ever polar bear and become acclaimed as the most famous explorer in the world, DogBog’s own mission is to get back to their cottage and rest up in front of the fire.
What develops, with the enthusiastic audience included as huskies who help drive the snowmobile, is a charmingly imaginative adventure. Kemp’s direction allows a fluidity as the gung-ho Scott ignores DogBog’s exasperated attempts, in various obvious disguises, to deter him. And when the growling polar bear is found - and partially seen in Karen Tenant’s clever, semitransparent white set - it turns out to have toothache.
Writer Abigail Docherty’s environmental messages about declining species, melting ice-caps and plastic bottles polluting the seas are clear without detracting from the entertainment. More could be made of the fact that this is supposed to be 2020, but otherwise the production pitches itself accurately for its target audience, while giving them plenty to chew over on the way home.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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