Now in its 35th successful year, The Spare Parts Puppet Theatre under its associate director, Michael Barlow, is presenting the World Premiere of Tohby’s stage adaptation of his inspiring book. This 50-minute show, which is aimed at children aged 5 and above, is being performed at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, 1 Short Street in Fremantle (opposite train station).

The performances are daily, Monday to Saturday, at 10.00 am and 1.00 pm. until 8^th October, with twilight performances at 6.30 pm on Wednesday 28^th September and Friday 7^th October.

You can have a chance to meet the playwright, Tohby Riddle after the 6.30 pm show on Wednesday 28^th September, when he visits Spare Parts.

Sadly, Noriko Nishimoto, who produced some superb puppets for the company over the years and was working on this show, has passed away. Production Manager, Chad Wetton, has gathered a well-respected, puppet construction and design team to make this show’s creations; they are Leon Hendroff, Rosie Martin, Julie Reeves and Bryan Woltjen.

The finishing touches to this show come from lighting designer, Graham Walne and composer, Lee Buddle who has produced a delightful original score, ranging from light jazz with saxophone and piano, to a soft sentimental score.

The set is a backdrop of beige skyscrapers. City crowd scenes were created by life-size cut-outs pushed around by the cast.

   Covered in pigeons, Yvan (Yvan Karlsson – great fun) introduces himself as a street performer, struggling to make a living and survive. In the evening, Clive (Jessica Lewis – delightful) the fox, immaculately dressed in a copper coloured suit introduces himself.

     We then get shown around Clive’s city, before having a peep inside a local factory where the bored workers are carrying out monotonous tasks.

     After work, Clive meets his friend Humphrey (Shirley Van Sanden – great characterisation) who is a depressed, homeless donkey. The couple find a blue envelope outside the theatre, is their luck changing? It is then they see the city’s richest man, Mr Crocodile (Geoff Kelso – boo, hiss) in his astrakhan coat. A nasty man.

The delightful cast comprises some of WA’s most talented, dramatic actors – regularly seen at the Heath Ledger and Blue Room Theatres – being winners of major acting awards.

The production is cleverly presented on several levels. The young kids, 5 years and up, will just love the colourful masks and the ‘live’ glove puppets, in the style of a ‘Punch and Judy’ show. Children 7 years and older, will also enjoy the storyline and start to appreciate the underlying themes of family relationship, and how to connect with friends.

The show’s opening was wonderful as Yvan did his pigeon act (c.f. Mary Poppins’s bird lady) before introducing us to teddy bear, a fun marionette.

There is a quite dark scene when one character has a nightmare; this may frighten the younger children. I felt that other than Clive, there was very little colour to the show, as the costumes were neutral. Children need visual warmth to relax.

Be one of the 60,000 audience members each year, to catch that special piece of magic unavailable anywhere else in the area. The tickets are at a minimal cost, so treat your family and neighbours.

Artist and illustrator, Tove died in 2004 aged almost 87, having won the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen prize in 1966 for her children’s writing. The 15 million books she has sold were in 44 different languages.

The 40-minute performances can be seen at The Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, 1 Short Street, opposite the railway station in Fremantle.

This special holiday season runs until 18^th April, with performances Monday – Saturday at 10.00 am and 1.00 pm. Excludes Sundays and Public Holidays.

In the centre of the stage is a metre-high island created with beige canvas. On the top is a lighthouse. At the rear of the stage is a circular flat with a flight of gulls flying across.

       The adventurous Moomins, a family of hippo-looking trolls and a troublesome little girl, Little My, have decided to set off across the sea, looking for a better life. They set off into the sunset in their boat, eventually landing on the shore of a small rocky island (designer Leon Hendroff) that was the home of a large lighthouse (props Ben Gates).

      The family searched the island for the lighthouse keeper without any success, so they decide to set up their own home – with a beautiful garden for the mother.

      No sooner had they started to settle in than a ghostly figure – The Groke – appears.

This charming play was originally presented by Bec Bradley a few years ago, here it has been revitalised by director Michael Barlow and his creative consultant Noriko Nishimoto. There is however a delightful song sung by Bec in Lee Buddle’s most inventive and atmosphere-filled soundscape.

Production Manager, Elliot Chambers, sat at the side of the stage in front of the wings, operating the lighting console; he certainly multi-tasked, as along with his lighting design, he has several small cameo appearances in the story.

The puppets were actually soft, stuffed, fabric toys made by Annie Robinson. Even though they were manually moved around by the solo performer (Michael Barlow) they had the most delightful expression and the children were captivated immediately by them. Talented Michael told the story, with many voices and a great deal of humour, as the engrossed little faces stared on in amazement.

The audience of 5 – 9 year olds sat in silence, totally mesmerised by the ‘puppetry’ and effects of this light-hearted, easy to follow storyline.

The children of all ages enjoyed this charismatic show.