Children no longer play using their imagination is a phrase I often hear said. They need immediate gratification and get it from the stream of entertaining videos available on demand. Les Enfants Terribles tried to correct that yesterday, descending on Chipping Norton School with a bright caravan full of puppets, streamers, a nest on the upper-deck of the van, and a list of mythical creatures to collect from faraway lands.
Sing-alongs and rhyming couplets, as well as brief references to disco, hippies and Nigel Farage filled an hour in the sun. Children and adults laughed along together, captivated and charmed. The show was visually striking throughout, and highly fantastical. The five member cast travelled across continents in search of imagined creatures, including the Bumblewasp who loves jam, and the Massive Paw who has large feet but a small, furry and quite cute - koala-type - body.
Against the backdrop of yesterday’s bright blue sky, a beautiful boat set sail from atop the caravan. In this way, the set is extraordinary in its ability to encourage and facilitate our journey through imagined lands.
Dr Longitude, the self-professed "untrueologist", led the adventure and the story telling, although it became clear that he is rather reliant on his team of adventurers and local tribespeople to undertake the risks of searching for mystical creatures! His esteemed colleagues included an Australian synchronised dancing athlete, recruited by Dr Longitude to catch a giant sea creature, and the best Victoria sponge cake baker who caught the mysterious and rare bird responsible for swooping away with her lightest cakes!
The show ended with a glimpse of the long-snouted Chuffalump, in Chipping Norton school! Children laughed and gasped as the creature grazed among them, and together shouted “over there” as the cast of adventurers sought to catch the elusive animal.
In walking back to the car, I heard a young child tell his grandmother he wanted to see this “three more times”, no less! This is a show not to be missed, with humour, incredible sets, and beguiling acting. You and your children will be transported to lands of bizarre dreams, where anything is possible.