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.

There is a delightful exhibition and collection of paintings and artworks, many for sale, by local artists on display.

The theatre is ‘in the round’ with two rows of chairs around the room’s periphery.

The scene is a dimly lit sitting room in a Parisian flat. It is just after the end of World War ll. In the centre of the room, there is a well-worn wooden table, loaded with pages from old books (set design Annette Orr and Helen Doig, lit by Emma Brown)

       Seated at the table is a proud and deeply satisfied woman, she is the American author and psychologist, Gertrude Stein (Vivienne Glance). Gertrude smiles as she looks fondly at the paintings on the walls, many of them given to her by close friends such as Matisse and Picasso. Into the room walks an infirm woman in widow’s weeds; it is Alice B. Toklas (Shirley Van Sanden), she has a harrowed appearance.

       Alice announces that today is the day that her dearest friend of the last 30 years, Gertrude, has just died. Alice tells us about their happy days together, with very funny interjections and corrections from the outspoken ghost of Gertrude (heard by the audience but not Alice) of her true feelings towards some of her artistic friends and how she almost succumbed to their amorous advances.

       The two companions are perfect for each other; Gertrude is exuberant, filled with drive, whereas Alice is happy to remain in the background, quietly looking after the business.

       After the play’s interval, we jump forward 20 years to 1964 and find frail Alice, now in another flat in Paris, describing Gertrude’s contemporary and experimental style of writing and recalling how her partner’s first books were published.

This is a delightful story, played with total empathy. Vivienne and Shirley are both exceptional scriptwriters and have been nominated and won many awards for their writing skills. They are also amazing, much admired, classical actors, and so the superlative quality of the acting and the emotions exhibited did not come as too much of a surprise.

Director, Helen Doig skilfully managed to keep the loving, light-hearted atmosphere of the script to the front. The flyer mentions how this play shows the need for marriage reform and the updating of gay rights; but although the deep love between the couple is lucid, the script is not pushing a message or screaming for reform, it is a simply, a fabulously constructed, intimate love story superbly performed.

The number of males in the audience was minimal, which is sad, as this is a quality ‘feel good’ play that deserves to be seen by a wide audience. An excellent night at the theatre.