Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. Space Theatre. 27 May 2016
Ever was it a beautiful and haunting tale. Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s 1943 novella has found a place in the hearts and minds of millions of us. It is perhaps the most translated book in the world. The image of the Little Prince alone on his asteroid imprints upon young minds and lives there along with that beautiful, vain rose. Most of all, it is the loneliness of the Little Prince which remains.
This production by Spare Parts puppets certainly brings this home. And, it is a production which is sure to be remembered by children because it is uncompromisingly different; quite challenging in some ways.
With lighting designer Karen Cook, director Michael Barlow has kept the show dark. It is the darkness of the nothingness of far space, perhaps. Only sometimes do the lights rise brightly on the Little Prince. And, in their hands, while he still has that golden curly hair, his eyes are so pale that one at first assumes he must be blind.
There is a large wooden crate onstage and the two performers, Shane Adamczak and Jessica Lewis, dismantle and unpack it, creating the various aspects of the fairly rudimentary but functional travelling set. It’s an extremely versatile crate, transforming not only into a mountain but also a plane.
Adamczak plays the pilot who narrates The Little Prince story. This is always believed to be Saint-Exupery since it relates his story of crashing in the desert. Here he encounters the Little Prince with his blunt request to be drawn a sheep. Thus does the show begin very nicely.
As it progresses, while the narrative emerges true to form, there seems some element in the earnestness of the effort to be artily evocative which sucks at the spirit. Both the songs and the lighting are responsible. The performers, however, give it all they’ve got and are utterly endearing.
There are some stunning moments, not the least of them when the ordinary roses emerge from a big case. The star of the show is the fox. He is a superbly expressive puppet as handled by Adamczak.
Lewis, at all times, is the Little Prince and the way she seems to speak to him as she speaks for him is particularly engaging.
The ending of the story is the great performance pinnacle as the box becomes the plane and it races around the stage in efforts to chase the Little Prince. It is absolutely spectacular, despite the fact that all it is, is a wooden box with a propeller and a performer pushing it around.
The children have loved the show but not the music. They have not been disappointed that the Little Prince was a "just a puppet" because they really liked the interaction of the puppeteers. And after show talk is full of interest in the art of the puppeteer and passionate love for the fox.
Samela Harris
When 27 to 28 May
Where: Space Theatre
Bookings: Closed
