IT was inevitable, really, that when, in the wake of last year's wash-out, director Tony Reekie took the brave decision to abandon the kids' festival's tented village for Edinburgh's theatres the weather would be glorious. Dafter still, Mimika Theatre tell their ecological tales in a specially made tent, erected within the Garage Theatre across the road from the Lyceum.
Prior to Landscapes, Bill and Jenny take the time to introduce the youngsters to the scarier puppets before the show and then invite them to stay while they demystify their operation afterwards, but the illusion within is still enveloping. Mimika seem to be part of that north of England, slightly hand-knitted school of fabrication typified by theatre companies Welfare State and Horse and Bamboo, eschewing electricity for everything but the lights. But the skill in their making and the range of techniques used is most impressive. More to the point, the children enjoyed the wordless show no less for being let into the secrets.
With only a handful of words, Theaterwerkstatt Pilkentafel's Washing Day, is as gentle a piece, an elderly couple deriving childish amusement from the routine of hanging out the clothes. In the school gym-like space of Traverse 2, its charm worked best on wistful grown-ups and pre-school youngsters. Cleverly choreographed to the original piano version of Pictures at an Exhibition, Old Heini and Elsie created their own narrative or tableau for each of Mussorgsky's moods, producing the unpredictable as often as the obvious from the bolts and fragments of fabric.
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