Choose any colour you like, so long as it's white
Those of us lucky enough to have caught this hot ticket for toddlers at the Edinburgh Fringe weren't at all surprised by the way that White scooped up awards (Fringe first, Herald Angel, Total Theatre).
Presented by the Traverse at the Scottish Book Trust, and aimed at two to four year-olds, the 40 minute work by the children's theatre company Catherine Wheels was probably the most perfect of the 90-plus shows I saw during three weeks of rabid theatre going. In short, White is an utter delight no matter what your age.
For starters the piece is beautifully designed by Shona Reppe. The audience enters a space surrounded by a gauzy white curtain. Inside is an island-like platform dotted with bird-sized houses at various heights. Wrinkle (Ian Cameron) emerges from a teepee-like structure, joined shortly by his younger companion Cotton (the show's creator, Andy Manley).
These two benign adult but child-like characters are conscientious cleaners who adhere to a methodical routine. After morning ablutions and breakfast they happily set about dusting and polishing their environment and receiving the eggs that appear to drop, thanks to a bit of theatrical sleight-of-hand, from on high. These guys love their eggs, not to eat but to look after.
The show is called White for a very good reason: anything coloured, even the smallest scrap of material, is immediately relegated to an echoing rubbish bin. Others shades and hues are simply not allowed in Wrinkle and Cotton's universe. And yet, as their comic drama unfolds gently under Gill Robertson's direction, there's no keeping colour away. As a metaphor for inclusion and difference it exerts the sweetest magic.
Buoyed up by Danny Krass's music, the two actors are spot-on in their characterisations. Like the performance as a whole, they charm the grown-ups in the audience as much as the children. An autumn tour begins at the Burton Taylor Studio, Oxford (Sept 25) and continues across the country until Christmas Eve.
Donald Hutera, The Times
2nd September 2010
Presented by the Traverse at the Scottish Book Trust, and aimed at two to four year-olds, the 40 minute work by the children's theatre company Catherine Wheels was probably the most perfect of the 90-plus shows I saw during three weeks of rabid theatre going. In short, White is an utter delight no matter what your age.
For starters the piece is beautifully designed by Shona Reppe. The audience enters a space surrounded by a gauzy white curtain. Inside is an island-like platform dotted with bird-sized houses at various heights. Wrinkle (Ian Cameron) emerges from a teepee-like structure, joined shortly by his younger companion Cotton (the show's creator, Andy Manley).
These two benign adult but child-like characters are conscientious cleaners who adhere to a methodical routine. After morning ablutions and breakfast they happily set about dusting and polishing their environment and receiving the eggs that appear to drop, thanks to a bit of theatrical sleight-of-hand, from on high. These guys love their eggs, not to eat but to look after.
The show is called White for a very good reason: anything coloured, even the smallest scrap of material, is immediately relegated to an echoing rubbish bin. Others shades and hues are simply not allowed in Wrinkle and Cotton's universe. And yet, as their comic drama unfolds gently under Gill Robertson's direction, there's no keeping colour away. As a metaphor for inclusion and difference it exerts the sweetest magic.
Buoyed up by Danny Krass's music, the two actors are spot-on in their characterisations. Like the performance as a whole, they charm the grown-ups in the audience as much as the children. An autumn tour begins at the Burton Taylor Studio, Oxford (Sept 25) and continues across the country until Christmas Eve.
Donald Hutera, The Times
2nd September 2010