With all the entertainment streams available to children now, it’s heartening to hear them gasp with delight when two actors mess about with a couple of coat-hangers. Once the charming Hang On, best suited for families with younger members, really gets going and the performers are swirling above the stage on a six-metre high metal mobile, the gasp/delight factor increases exponentially.
One of the many bonuses of this co‑production between child-focused company Theatre Rites and aerialists Ockham’s Razor is the profound pleasure it takes in physical movement, in the agility and grace of its performers precariously balancing on three giant interconnected triangles.
There’s no storyline as such — director Sue Buckmaster would do well to refocus a couple of waftier sections — although parents will appreciate the crafty snook cocked at our nay-saying health and safety culture. Comedy fall guy Eric MacLennan wants his colleagues to be safely earthbound and miserable like him. Instead they insist on taking joyous, skill-laden aerial risks. Sitting next to me was 10-year-old Jasmine who, like everyone else, was utterly charmed for the hour-long show.
Hang on
Lyric Hammersmith
King Street, London, W6 0QL
