Luminous Tales

“Luminous Tales” at Greenwich Festival
15 April 2011


Ripstop Theatre’s “Luminous Tales” takes us into a wintery arctic landscape where
“It was dark all the time….’ There was ‘no daytime at all, they didn’t even know what time was. No time to get up time, no breakfast time….” This is a deep beginning for a children’s show, you might think – but the Inuit story of how light was found by the indefatigable Crow grows into an exploration of light and shadow through the surreal lens of folk tales. This entranced the young audience at Woolwich Tramshed. The lantern held by the storyteller, Zannie Fraser was turned to reveal different scenes, and a range of lights including slides and projections gave a variety in scale in both puppets and landscape. There are lots of good moments, such as when the moon appears in a witty close - up, and when the old lady in the final story cant keep the night in a bag.
 
There are three stories in the show, and the audience crept closer to Fraser with each one. Even the much older children I took were completely absorbed by the deft and poetic handling of the theme; highly recommended.

Karin Andrews Jashapara
11 July 2011