Tabby McTat, based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel
Scheffler, is visiting the Everyman this week as part of an extensive national
tour.
The story is narrated by Samuel Spratt, who brings three
friends onto the stage to help him tell the tale. Wearing a variety of hats to
determine who is who, the four actors take turns to play all the parts, turning
the act of acting into a game in itself.
Tabby is a busker’s cat, who becomes separated from his
friend Fred and, in his search to find him, he meets up with another cat, Sock,
with whom he has three kittens. One of these turns out to be Samuel, who has a
meeee-ew that could shatter glass. In itself the story is a simple one that
could be told in minutes, so the show relies on repetition and reinforcement
alongside a series of games, punctuated by a lot of fun-filled musical numbers
that get the children involved.
Looking around the audience, it’s easy to pick out which of
the children are familiar with the story, as they are more than happy to join
in with the fun. At the performance I was invited to attend there was also a
large group of theatre students in the house, who also got very involved and,
along with the children, were still performing the actions on their way out.
Luke Rees-Oliviere predominantly plays Samuel Spratt, and
his microphone is cunningly tuned to ensure that his voice is more shrill and
dominant than the others, something that is perplexing until the story tells us
the reason why. It’s a nice touch to have him singing completely out of key at
the appropriate moments when in fact he, along with the other three performers,
has an excellent voice.
This is sweet, engaging storytelling that will appeal in
particular to very young children, played out in very simple fashion on a set made
up mostly of two stepladders and a painted sheet. Running at a compact 1 hour
it doesn’t stretch young attention spans either, and certainly manages to hold
the attention throughout.
After this week at the Everyman, Tabby McTat continues his
journey on tour countrywide with dates up to December.
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| Thew cast of Tabby McTat - picture (c) Mark Senior |
Star Rating: Three Stars
This review was originally written for and published by Good News Liverpool
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