Running Wild, theatre review: Creature comforts

Stylishly directed by Timothy Sheader and Dale Rooks, this piece is dramatically speaking rather simplistic, but the puppets are magnificent, says Fiona Mountford
Wonderfully shaggy: the puppets are the highlight of Running Wild
Johan Persson
Fiona Mountford20 May 2016

What an audacious and imaginative start this is to the Open Air Theatre’s season. The lush foliage of Regent’s Park provides a sumptuous setting for Samuel Adamson’s adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s 2009 children’s novel, which largely unfolds in the rainforests of Indonesia.

The highlight of this show, stylishly directed by Timothy Sheader and Dale Rooks and very much aimed at the family market, is the magnificent puppets. They are headed by Oona the elephant, a noble, articulated and life-sized creature who requires four people to manoeuvre her. There are also some wonderfully shaggy orang-utans; it’s uncanny how effectively the puppets convey the trembling terror of two of these captured baby creatures.

The drawback of the piece is that, dramatically speaking, it’s rather simplistic, with a heavy-handed environmental message dragging along behind. Young Lilly (Ava Potter) goes on holiday to Indonesia with her mother after the death of her soldier father. Unfortunately — blimey — Lilly’s mother then drowns in the tsunami, leaving Lilly to fend, Mowgli-like, for herself.

For someone who has suffered such unthinkable loss, Lilly — or Will, as the character is at some performances as the three young leads take turns — is remarkably upbeat. Some deeper exploration of her emotions would be greatly welcome. Still, Potter makes Lilly sparky and spiky and those puppets are things of never-ending beauty.

Until June 12, Open Air Theatre (0844 826 4242, openairtheatre.com)

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