It's not easy creating theatre for children which is colourful, vibrant and entertaining enough to maintain their attention across a full hour. The team at Planet Munch, however, have certainly managed to put together a show that fits the bill. The opening was soft, inviting the children into the theatre space and making them feel warmly welcomed with friendly greetings, big smiles and three colourful backdrops illustrating locations from the imaginary vegetable world they were about to explore. There was lots of nervous excitement from the young audience, with many of the children eagerly asking where the puppets were and when they'd arrive!
Their patience was well rewarded as the house lights came down and the show proper began. Within minutes the stage was filled with life size (meaning human size!) fruit and vegetable puppets that delighted and amazed the watching children. From the youthful Broc to the sporty Carrot, and from the hula-hooping Peachy to the Bangla-singing Chickpea, this was a world of wacky, inventive and engaging characters that had a clear mission: Make fruit and vegetables cool to eat! Broc's song '5 A Day Keeps The Doctor Away' drove the message home!
The puppets were really impressive in their construction, incredibly mobile and filled with personality. The cast of 5 were all great at keeping the puppets animated whenever they were on stage, which meant that wherever you looked there was always something to watch. A feast for the eyes, if you'll forgive the food pun! (There were lots of those in the script, I'm happy to play along!)
The story was bonkers, with too many disparate lines to really hold together. Broc has a brother Oli who he searches for but we never see, he's focused on an audition at a jazz club but distracted by helping Tutsie, a character from a different world, find a healthy lunch... it's confusing. It might have been more compelling from a narrative point of view to have a simple mission to visit or collect the different fruit and veg and display them visibly, perhaps on a magnetised chart, as they were found. But none of that really matters as ultimately the series of stand along encounters with the various colourful characters kept the youngsters amused. So much so that they were clambering to join the cast on stage and for face painting afterwards.
For its heathy message alone this show is ideal for a tour of primary schools and libraries, which they have already embarked upon with huge success. But the wonderful puppets really makes it come alive on stage.
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