Little Angel by the Sea, A Review – The Little Angel Theatre
We’re back once again to one of my favourites and one of the most professional and authentic puppet theatre experiences around.
Little Angel by the Sea is showing at the Little Angel Theatre, Islington in their Studio space, just minutes from the main theatre. Complete with seaside garden, sandcastle building, hook the ducks and fantastic Punch & Judy show, the 3-9 year olds, for which the main attraction is aimed, are in for a real summer treat with this one and how befitting of our heatwave; an urban beach in north London.
Originating in Italy in the 16th Century, Punch and Judy has long since, been a part of British seaside culture. Stemming back to Restoration Britain and times when we were starved of fun, Punch was seen as the playful but often violent puppet spirit of Britain; defying authority, horsing around and causing trouble. It was only in the late Victorian times that children really became the target audience.
Unlike many other productions that we have seen in the main theatre; an intimate affair with tiered seating leading down to the stage, this is a truly immersive experience where the seaside comes to you!
Real sand, a puppet making workshop and mystery and mayhem searching for stolen sausages. Part workshop, part puppet show but all fun! The Punch and Judy itself is as usual brilliantly executed with fantastic voices and lots of laughs for both young and old. From Punch’s repetitive demands for a ‘kissy, kissy’, to Bobby Beat threatening a ‘stop and search’, there were giggles aplenty in the audience.
For some, this will be the closest they get to a British beach and if so, don’t feel too hard done by, this production has captured its essence perfectly!
This was a complete waste of money. The Punch and Judy was ok but everything else was poor and tacky. The fishing didn’t work, the guys helping didn’t help. The policeman taking the dad away traumatised the child so much and he didn’t recover when dad returned. A cheap paddling pool with an inch of water, Being barked at and told to hurry up when making our puppet.
The whole thing seemed like it was made by primary school teachers in their lunch break. My daughter wanted to leave but we stuck it out to the end… not sure why though it never got any better.
Shake you didn’t enjoy. It wasn’t meant to be high tech. I just think it was supposed to be laid back fun reminiscent of old school seaside but not to be realistic!