BWW Reviews: STICK MAN, Leicester Square Theatre, November 27 2011

“I’m Stick Man, I’m Stick Man, I’m Stick Man, that’s me.” Of that the audience is in no doubt, as Gruffalo creators Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's Stick Man (that's him!) is brought to the stage in Scamp Theatre's enchanting show (at the Leicester Square Theatre until 8 January).

Stick Man may be somewhat unprepossessing to look at (few sticks are) but he loves his Stick Wife and three Stick Children and they love him in return. One morning he wakes in his Family Tree (yes, his Family Tree) and, being a stick with an eye for healthy living, Stick Man goes off on a jog through the forest. It is a jog that leads him far from the Family Tree and into danger, but Stick Man's boundless bonhomie and self-belief eventually carry the day.

The cast of three (Mark Kane as Stick Man, Peta Dennis as a dog, a swan and assorted other foes that Stick Man somehow survives and Brian Hargreaves as a dog warden, a seasider and, well, I'd best not say) begin as a kind of updated version of Playaway's Brian Cant, Toni Arthur and Derek Griifiths. Before long, Kane's fine physical comedy (there's plenty of Norman Wisdom in Stick Man), Dennis' beautifully judged threats to Stick Man (real enough for the older kids to be concerned for our hero, but not so great as to scare the littlest of little ones) and Hargreaves' fine musicianship, are giving full value to the original story and entertaining the Mums and Dads as much as the kids.

As it's Christmas, there's a bit of panto too, with the fourth wall broken to the kids' delight, as the dog chases Stick Man up and down the aisles and poor old Stick Man gets used as a rounders bat, as a beach ball is biffed into the audience, leading to some fine ad-libbing from Brian Hargreaves who appears to be having a whale of a time from start to finish.    

Crucially for a show aimed at kids aged three and above, the pace never drops so, just when you're wondering if Stick Man will ever be returned to the Family Tree, salvation arrives and they all - as they should - live happily ever after. 

 

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