Beacon, Greenock
Four stars
For those of us who grew up watching Multi-Coloured
Swap Shop, the idea of
trading your old toys for someone else's carries a special allure. After
selected performances of this National Theatre of Scotland production, the
young audience gets to relive the fun. At the Beacon, I watch a girl exchange one
of her drawings for a Paddington Bear book and another lead a rendition of
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in return for a bingo game.
It reminds you that perceived value and monetary
worth are not the same thing (Maria Miller take note),
an idea Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean take to an extreme in their picture book The
Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish. Young Neil thinks it's a bargain to get a
goldfish bowl in return for a father who rarely comes out from behind a
newspaper. Sadly, his mother has different values and insists he gets his
father back.
This is where Lu Kemp's delightful production
comes into its own. With actors Laurie Brown and Veronica Leer leading the way,
the audience ventures through corridors and cubbyholes in an effort to track
down the missing parent. Turns out Neil's friends think his dad is worth an
electric guitar, a gorilla mask and a large rabbit and have bartered him
accordingly.
It's a deliciously daft concept, a quality
Oliver Emanuel's script and Laura Hopkins's designs make the most of, but in
execution, it is also gripping. However much we are entertained by the
self-absorbed characters realised by Anthony Strachan and Rosalind Sydney, we
can't forget they are delaying us in our increasingly nightmarish quest.
Along the way, Neil learns humility and Little
Sis discovers reserves of warmth, but the pleasure of the show is less as a
morality tale than as a vivid journey into the imagination.
Mark Fisher
At Howden Park Centre, Livingston, 2–5 May, 01506
777666, and touring until 1 June. Details:
www.nationaltheatrescotland.com
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