The Gingerbread Man
By Stuff and Nonsense Theatre Company
The Hat, The Warren 27th May
This new show from the theatre company Stuff and Nonsense was quite frankly the best thing I’ve seen in the Brighton Fringe this year. Although this show was aimed at ages 3 plus, it was quite simply a fantastically professional show at the Warren to be enjoyed be all ages this May.
The tale of the famed Gingerbread Man is brought to life with two actors playing every role, with a host of accompanying puppets and props to develop the tale of the poor little biscuit who is under threat of eating by everyone he meets, apart from his dear old mum. Starting with an introductory sheet with a gingerbread man to decorate and information on the company, this helped to keep itchy feet (and sticky fingers) occupied before the show began.
This Arts Council funded play shows the skills of its artistic director off with a great and very inventive set which is used in a multipurpose way to its fullest extent. I was impressed with this aspect of the show alone. The team used every inch of the available stage to develop the show, bringing in inventive props and some very talented puppetry – at one point revealing an actor with puppets on both hands and both legs at the same time.
The tale takes us from a series of encounters of the making of the protagonist of the show, through the birth in the oven of his mum, the farmer’s wife, to being under threat from his dad, the farmer, meeting with the farmyard animals, and a rogue fox who’s determined to have the poor wee biscuit for his tea. Travelling from a railway station, to the farm, being chased by this wily fox to India, New York and Paris, this show roams across the globe in unexpected and amusing ways. Meanwhile the gingerbread man keeps running.
The two performers in this piece are exemplary; I was so enthused by their skills in acting, puppeteering, song and generally clambering about the stage and disappearing into trap doors at the drop of a hat. Some of the puppetry in confined spaces in a hot theatre must have been exhausting, but the actors made it look effortless. My four year old critic had a smile on his face throughout the show, and sat rapt throughout. Not something I’m used to, as he usually has ants in his pants. Our joint favourite was the spectacle of a goat in a church with a vicar and gospel choir accompaniment.
There was a lot of laughter through the performance from the audience, lots of family participation and I thought it was just brilliant: an innovative, musically and theatrically skilled show. The bespoke songs written for the show also enlivened the proceedings and carried the plot along at the same time.
My young date told me that ‘I liked everything. I liked the whole show’ and said it was ‘brilliant’ at the end. He’s a tough audience usually, so this is high praise indeed! If this is the kind of thing the Arts Council is funding, then I’m happy to be a tax payer to support this kind of endeavour.
5 stars
https://www.brightonfringe.org/whats-on/the-gingerbread-man-125165/
