Reviews

The Guardian

The Earth turns, but it is stories that make the world go round in this latest show for three to six-year-olds from theatre innovators Oily Cart. Alice's dog likes chasing his own tail, but when he goes missing, Alice has to chase after him. Along the way she encounters a friendly milkman, embarks on a sea voyage and visits the moon, where the green mice insist on a party to cheer up the Man in the Moon, who is always crying.

Alice isn't called Alice for no reason, and there is an absurdist wonderland feeling to the story, as well as a touch of the wild goose chase and a shaggy-dog tail. It is bizarre and preposterous. But it's not the story – which meanders a bit – but the way it's delivered that makes this show such a pleasure. Like one of those conveyor belts in a sushi restaurant, the audience sits around the edge of a cut-out wooden wheel that revolves while the actors perform in the middle. The children help the story to turn by pushing the wheel along, which makes puppet figures and objects parade.

It's a great idea that chimes with the average small child's inclination to participate and not just to watch, and if that's not quite enough there are moments during the hour-long show when you get to jump up, pass through hoops, search for the captain's biscuits and dance at the moon party. There is also a great percussive score delivered by a one-man band. It's all neatly handled, and comes wrapped in a charming DIY aesthetic of ramshackle milkfloats, unseaworthy boats, peg and pipe-cleaner puppets and a great sense of fun. As memorable as green cheese.