The Elmer Adventure

Over the hour’s show we hear 3 of the classic tales and watch them unfold before our eyes with an almost Montessori feel to the visual aspects accompanying this. Rather than a typically commercial design, the colour palette was expansive but somehow not quite as bright as you'd expect. With Amanda Mascarenhas’ set and costume being fantastic in every way, it unfortunately felt too small for the space. Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall is a very long auditorium with an end on stage miles away from those sat towards the rear. With audiences both little and large encouraged to come and enjoy the show, it was hard for some of the smaller attendees to really immerse themselves in the far-away world. This also goes for the wheelchair users sitting in the accessible mid-section!

Alongside somewhat narrow sightlines, the audio quality was also a little lacklustre, with some lines being lost - especially if you were further back. Though this is no reflection on Hattie North’s sound arrangements, it did make for a less engaging experience. Director Toby Mitchell may have been able to mitigate this however, by restructuring the (albeit hilarious) ad libbing from actors between scenes, as these were spoken at a more regular volume and so not picked up as well by the microphones. There were the moments where grown ups got a giggle, and are so important in family-aimed productions, so it was a shame to miss them at times!