Publication: The Post Newspapers
Author: Pier leach
22nd December 2015
Fans of Margaret Wild’s award-winning children’s books will be pleased at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre’s Wild-fest. Following on from last school holiday season’s superb adaptation of her dark fable Fox, the company is reviving its 2012 production of Miss Lily’s Fabulous Pink Feather Boa – a more light-hearted affair.
Directed by Michael Barlow, it is pitched at a younger age group than Fox and features both a new cast and a new Miss Lily – a human- sized puppet suspended from performer, Rebecca Bradley, in a kind of puppetry pas de deux.
Miss Lily is a dancing crocodile who runs a tropical holiday resort– and the show’s chilled- out, party-ready vibe is perfectly captured with a calypso-inspired score by Lee Buddle.
Her happy guests include Australian sports-loving families of dozy wombats and sleepy koalas – represented in rudimentary fashion with hats worn by the multi-tasking cast – Rebecca, Shane Adamczak and Nick Pages-Oliver.
Miss Lily’s only slightly ill-at-ease guest is Last Potoroo (a delightful hand-held puppet), who initially fears the imposing reptile may have a taste for plump little marsupials, but is soon bewitched by her titular performance accessory.
Wild is not an author to shy away from difficult themes, and in Miss Lily she raises tricky subjects like stealing, the power of conscience, as well as familiar ideas about family, bravery and belonging. It isn’t the company’s most innovative production, but nevertheless shows flashes of brilliance in bringing a uniquely Australian story to life.
Miss Lily’s Fabulous Feather Boa
Runs 4-30 January, Mon-Sat, 10am and 1pm daily.
Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, 1 Short Street, Fremantle.
Tickets Available Online
Image: Tanya Photography