Date of performance – 15th February 2024
Venue – Sherman Theatre, Cardiff
A couple of years ago, I reviewed Theatr Iolo’s Pigeon, and I wasn’t a fan (to put it blunt). So, when I was approached at the end of last year* to review the audio – described performance of their latest offering – Tidy (co – produced with Polka Theatre) – I was initially a teensy bit apprehensive. However this show sounded different – aimed at a much younger age group for a start (children aged 3 – 7) so it wouldn’t be as hard hitting, AD would be purely in English (My own Welsh is, ahem, a little rusty), and the main character being a badger (I love badgers)! So, I decided to give it a go!
Story
Based on the charming picture book by Emily Gravett, Tidy introduces us to Pete, a badger who lives in the forest with his friends, Rabbit and Fox. Pete’s life revolves around order – he’s a stickler for tidying, cleaning and keeping everything neat (and we all know someone like that, am I right?). Every morning he leaps straight into his scrupulous cleanliness routine – tidying the entire forest – from the smallest flowers to poor old Fox. He takes pride in this, and his cozy sett (housing his collection of Tidiest Forest of the Year trophies no less). But one autumn day, Pete goes a little OTT; a single fallen leaf triggers an overzealous rampage that ultimately leads to an accidental almost-destruction of his home – forcing him to confront the consequences of his obsessive behaviour. Everything works out in the end of course, but it’s a surprisingly deep message for a show aimed at tiny tots (there was certainly one scene that was definitely at odds with the whimsical, light – hearted remainder), delivered in what I think was a sensitive yet refreshingly honest way.
Cast
This stage adaption expands Gravett’s bookverse by introducing two additional characters – Rabbit and Fox (the book focuses solely on Pete) – Pete’s good friends, who, although their occasional exasperation with Pete’s cleaning efforts are shown to love him very much. The slim cast portray this close friendship in a beautifully authentic way, it was so sweet to watch.
The main character, Pete, is brought to life, at different times, by a small hand puppet, a real – life badger sized puppet, and a fully – costumed human actor; the incredibly talented Owen Alun (whom I had previously seen as the title role in Pigeon. t’s a big jump to make character-wise – but he seemed to take it all in his stride. In the hands of another actor, Pete might be played as unlikeable or the villain of the piece, but Alun did a skilful job of portraying him as a loveable, yet flawed – well, um, badger. His ability to portray raw emotional venerability (showcased so well in Pigeon but obviously toned down a tad here) made it so easy to sympathise with him throughout (a scene where he muses his mistake atop of a cement mixer comes to mind); and yet he also showed that he could be funny and genuinely engaging – interacting very well with the (much younger) audience.
Not to be outdone, Carwyn Jones and Elin Phillips also pleased as Fox and Rabbit respectively. The captivating, infectiously energetic Phillips particularly shone as the easygoing, fun-loving Rabbit – she never failed to bring a smile to my face as she frolicked around the stage – jumping in puddles, rolling in leaves – her joy palpable. Carwyn Jones’s Fox was a little more understated, but still engages. Both are musically – talented too, and provided frequent musical interludes – Jones is particularly killer on the guitar, and kazoo. As I mentioned before, all three characters interacted wonderfully with each other throughout; their warm and supportive dynamic beautifully portrayed; particularly during the scenes when Rabbit and Fox rally around Pete to help him fix his mistake.
Music
The music (composed by Lucy Rivers) is a delightfully eclectic mix of genres – jumping from folk, to blues, to classical to swing – and even to heavy metal; brilliantly representing Pete’s emotional journey and taking us along for the ride. The songs, mixing Gravett’s gently – poetical text from the book and Rivers’s whimsical. deceptively simple additions, are captivating. I particularly enjoyed Sett Sweet Sett – where Pete gives us a look into his cozy underground home and proudly lists everything he loves about it. It’s a lovely moment, and Alun performs it beautifully – his voice literally dripping with pride – which makes the later reprise of the song (during that cement mixer scene) all the more poignant.
Set, Costumes and Technicalities
Rachel Canning’s minimalistic yet evocative set – a large wooden structure made to look like three tree trunks (made with actual trees – manipulated of course, but still really cool!), laid atop of a green rug dotted with flowers and even a teeny tiny bin really immerses us into the woodland landscape. A rotating yellow circle atop one of the trees cleverly represented the time of day. Along with the sweet. whimsical costumes and aforementioned puppets (always a winner with small children, and small children at heart) – it really helped establish a time of place.
Audio Description and BSL
I was so relieved to find that the AD provided for this performance was much easier to follow than that of Pigeon (it being in just the one language this time undoubtedly helped). Michelle described everything so clearly – even the humour (much to my amusement) – at a good pace, and adapted her descriptions well for the age group – using a bright, cheery tone, short sentences and simple terms. The exclusion of captions this time also made it much easier to follow the action on stage, but rely on Michelle for those details I couldn’t quite catch (I was sitting quite far from the stage).
BSL interpretation for this performance was provided by Nez Parr – and in a particularly endearing touch, she also doubled up as an additional character ‘Mouse’ (fully costumed, and interacting with the other actors on stage in-between signing). I loved the decision to have the interpreter be ‘part’ of the show instead of just stationary at the side of the stage as with other productions. It felt really imaginative, and very much in keeping with the target age group.
The Jazzy Verdict
To sum up, I really enjoyed Tidy and, judging on the enthralled little faces around me, it seemed the actual target audience did too. Some may feel the deep (yet still relatively sensitive and child-friendly) David Attenborough -esque messaging is uneven in tone, or too intense for the smallest, but I found refreshing. I think children’s media is over sanitised these days – but for what? Shielding our precious little snowfakes from the Big Bad World? Kiddos are often far smarter than we think. They can totally understand the more mature stuff (presented in an age appropriate manner of course); Tidy recognises this and treats them as the amazing, valuable, impressionable little human beings they are. More sensitive little souls may need a bit more reassurance through the show’s ‘darker’ moments, but as long as they’re given a thorough briefing beforehand, I think they’ll be absolutely fine. There’s a gloriously wholesome, warm, buttered-crumpets-on-toast happy ending after all. A gorgeous end to a gorgeous show. Grab a little one (your own or borrowed) and go and see it!
Find out more about the show and book tickets here – https://www.theatriolo.com/tidy-3