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The Overcoat review
The Overcoat
Primary Times reader review quote
The show is an enjoyable mix of physical theatre and visual effects - the use of a projector throughout is inspired and we found ourselves gasping with surprise as often as laughing at the situations onstage.
The Overcoat is a delightful show about the power of a child's imagination. There is little dialogue but live music throughout and plenty of sound effects, both from the talented musician visible at the side of the stage and from the actors themselves. The show is an enjoyable mix of physical theatre and visual effects - the use of a projector throughout is inspired and we found ourselves gasping with surprise as often as laughing at the situations onstage.
The audience is immediately involved as the actors offer high fives to everyone coming in, then once seated the children (and some adults) are presented with colourful yarn bracelets. The scene is set as Jenny and her Papa erect a cloth covered frame on the stage - with several comedic moments - but it is once Jenny is left alone and she is forced to entertain herself that the fun really starts. The theme of yarn runs throughout the show - the little girl Jenny tugs her father's coat to prevent him leaving, becomes tangled in a spider's web and makes an elephant from pieces of yarn, amongst other imaginative and fun situations.
My children both thoroughly enjoyed The Overcoat. My 11 year old son thought 'It was very good. It was amazing how they used the cloth background and the string for lots of different ideas. I would recommend it to everyone.' while my daughter, 7, said ' It was good. It made me wonder how did they do that? How did they make stuff do that? It was cool how they used things like the wool or the shoes and the actor together.' And if you have a younger child The Overcoat is worth a look too, the 5 year old sitting in front of us was in peals of laughter for almost the entire show. One thing I would advise is to get there early if you can, in order to grab a seat at the front - you won't want to miss any details and nor will your kids.
Name of Reviewer: Abigail Fuller Date: 5th August 2015