WHEN reviewing Children’s theatre, I believe it’s important to get the verdict of someone seeing it through child’s eyes as well as your own, so I took along my theatre-seasoned five-year-old grandson Jacob to help me review ‘The Boy With Wings’ at The REP.
He sat enthralled for the entire 65 minutes of the two acts with no fidgeting and a thorough grasp of the story.
His review was that he: “liked the cat best, but it was strange to hear a cat talking. It was about a battle between cats and birds, but they made friends in the end. Oh, and the birds in Tunde’s nightmares were a bit frightening but only a bit!”
Not sure I can improve too much on that but suffice it to say that this stage adaptation by Arvind Ethan David of the children’s novel by Sir Lenny Henry certainly understood its target audience. It was action packed, highly accessible fun with obvious and subtle positive messaging running through it.
Picture by Jake Bush. sYes, there is a talking cat – that’s Juba played with panache and breaking down the fourth wall with the audience from the get-go by Jess Murrain. We learn Juba is not just a cat from another planet but the queen of a cat planet who are at war with a planet of birds – but she is also a queen cat with an agenda!
The unlikely hero is Tunde – a boy who battles nightmares about birds with an overbearing mother who wants him to stay home, eat rubbish and play computer games. Adiel Boboye brings sensitivity to the role and takes us on his personal journey from wimp to super-boy who sprouts wings and fulfills his destiny by stopping a long intergalactic war,
Tunde has a couple of chums who help him break free from his home prison and perform daredevil jumping and climbing stunts, Two very engaging performances from Millie Elkins-Green as Kylie and Samir Mahat as Dev.
Mia Jerome plays Tunde’s mother Ruth who turns full circle from zero to hero when we discover he has been left in her protection by his alien father, Aaven the king of the bird people. She has been keeping him safe till he grows his wings and Aaven (played large, warm and arrogant by Stephan Boyce) returns to take him to fulfil his destiny by stopping the war.
Picture by Jake Bush. sThe script is cut to the bone – the action is frantic and the plot easy to follow. There is just the right amount of audience participation to add another level and a couple of easy songs to join in. Laura McEwen’s set is equally accessible, transforming from Tunde’s humble house to a spaceship with a city park amongst other places along the way.
Director Daniel Bailey has brought the company together in a delightful and thought-provoking production which is just perfect for youngsters today.
The Boy With Wings is just the ticket tor the family to this holiday; grab yours whilst you can.
The show runs at the Birmingham REP until August 30. Click here for times, tickets and more information.
