Me..., Birmingham Mac - review

Hardly a word is spoken during this heart-warming show as all eyes are fixed on the actions of a baby penguin learning to find her feet in the big, wide world.

The magic is all in the puppetry.

The cute little furry bundle is born on an icy ridge and we see her attempting to fend for herself until danger strikes – when in swim mum and dad to save her from disaster.

Me…(CORR) by Little Angel Theatre is a new production of the children’s story by Emma Dodd, in puppet form. The company specialises in puppetry for younger audiences, this one aimed at two to six-year-olds.

The staging is simple with the focus on the puppets. Our baby penguin emerges from her egg and over the next 30 minutes learns to spread her wings on land and underwater.

We see her climbing higher and higher precipices, sliding back down in a great woosh, and dipping her toe into the vast ocean to sink or swim.We also see her being blown about by Arctic winds.

There are few props - a blue sheet for the ocean, a large golden moon on a stick, lights for stars, a shower of snow – but they provide simple, strong images that remainlong after the show has ended.

The penguin puppets were designed and made by Jimmy Grimes, who was associate puppetry director on War Horse. There is a single puppeteer, who skilfully manipulates the penguins as they teeter on the edge of a fall and swim gracefully in the water.

Inevitably, given the age of the theatre-goers, there was a fair bit of noise and restlessness in the mac's Foyle Studio, but in the main the young audience were captivated by this charming story.

Runs until November 30.