Children's Events Reviews
COMEDYSPORTZ - CSzUK
In this fun improv comedy show for all the family, two teams of performers are pitted against each other for a series of games, on which the audience votes, the winning team getting points (and what do points mean …?)
Improv can be a hit and miss affair, and this show is no exception. Some of the games hit the spot – one person miming a sport and then the next person picking up the mime and coming up with an amusing take on what they might be doing. Others less so – contestants balancing a book on their head and having to restart a scene every time the book falls off, somewhat repetitive.
There’s enough variety here, though, to keep the cast on their toes and the audience, young and old, entertained. Comedysportz have been doing this for 20 years, and have a rolling team of performers, so each show promises to be different from the one before and, with a careful hold on language etc, thoroughly family-friendly.
Robbie Carnegie
TINY!: MOUSE QUEENS AND MOLE KINGS - Stone and Water
The community arts and nature group Stone and Water has been entertaining young visitors in the Pavilion Gardens for around 11 years - even last year when they were one of the very few live performances in Buxton during the Fringe.
They have found the perfect spot near the young children’s playground under a tree adorned with a glamorous and gigantic spider, part of the Up Here Sculpture Trail. A couple of blankets, boxes of coloured pencils and felt-tips, scissors, card, a stapler and some mini treasure boxes in need of decoration are pretty much all that is needed to keep a steady stream of children entertained. Artist Gordon MacLellan (aka Creeping Toad) was more than happy for me to join in, despite my advanced years, so I created a finger puppet that looks like my dog. Toad has a way of encouraging us to make up stories so his question at this point was: “What kind of treasure would my dog like to find in the park?” This prompted me to decorate a treasure box to house a small, bone-shaped treat. I was also sent away with some pirate gold that I was only slightly disappointed to find was not the kind of gold coin I could eat.
Needless to say, most of the participants had less prosaic imaginations than me, accepting the challenge to create mouse queens, mole kings, wasp warriors, rabbit runners, magic butterflies and many more Tiny! creatures, all ready to slip onto fingers and use in a puppet show. https://creepingtoad.blogspot.com/2020/04/a-fingerful-of-animals.html gives full instructions.
Toad says that above all, these sessions offer a quiet point in a busy day, a chance to chat to strangers and enjoy some lovely conversations. This, he believes, is as important as the creativity and after the year or so we have had, I could not agree more.
Stephanie Billen
