When it started, I suddenly went a bit cold.  With a three year old who's been obsessed with death, a play about a woman seeing her dead husband one last time felt like the wrong choice.

Yet slowly, with charisma and with humour even, the two very talented performers from Lunabug unwound a journey of bravery and determination that completely won me over.  The three year old never seemed to have any doubts!

The action revolved around Philomena, a woman who lived in the place she’d last seen her husband, and Albert (the husband), now in the waiting place, who wishes he could see his beloved wife one last time.  Their journey to the train station for Albert to catch the last train tests Philomena’s courage to its limits and there was lots of interaction as we encouraged and cheered on the charismatic Philomena.  

The superb vocal sound effects amply supported the one-woman performance of Philomena and husband Albert (played by a puppet!).  The props were minimal but effective: a lamp as the moon and a bed that doubled up for a shadow puppet stage (as well as a few well-placed cups of water!).  Plenty of mime and use of the whole theatre (including the seating!) made the performance very physical and involving.  The pair dealt professionally and sympathetically with a wandering toddler and had the audience literally cheering them on.

The many children in the audience had a great time - the adults seemed to as well for that matter!  Using a puppet and lots of silliness seems to be a rather good recipe for tackling what could have been a difficult subject in a way that was engaging, touching and at the same time very funny.

It's always a bit of a gamble taking two under fours to the theatre, but it was one well worth taking on this occasion!