Thumbelina at South Street Arts Centre
Thumbelina was so tiny, that she could float on a lily pad and ride on the back of a dragonfly. Once she found herself in a big world full of dangerous adventures and huge mysterious creatures.
You have to be brave to take this journey or at least have the support of an enthusiastic audience such as the one that gathered at South Street on Sunday.
"Where is Thumbelina?", one little girl couldn't stop asking after the heroine was stolen by a huge toad.
In Joy Haynes' one-woman puppet show a piece of fabric is transformed into a big stream with the help of a torch, a basket turns into a windy hill and gardening tools become a deep forest.
The grateful swallow whom Thumbelina was taking care of helped her to escape from a mole who wanted her to stay with him in his velvety hole and never see daylight again. He flew Thumbelina far away to a warm country, where a prince who spoke a strange language proclaimed her the queen of the flowers. Well, she deserved it, of course.
At the end, the little spectators were even able to meet and stroke the cuddly characters, from Norwich Puppet Theatre, that had performed for them. Someone even wished that the mole would find someone to share his hole with.... After all, everybody deserves hope!
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 15 Dec 11
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