Headspace emotions
Mind the Monsters at the Burton Taylor Studio, Oxford, from July 19-30. Review by JON LEWIS
FRESH from performing in a tent at Blenheim Palace, Al Miller’s Oxford Playhouse Plays Out production of Ben Watson’s two-hander for children, Mind the Monsters has a new home in the Burton Taylor studio.
Youngsters and their families sit on cushions in front of the performance space, perfect for interacting with the actors.
The title of Watson’s poetic play cleverly signals different messages to children and adults.
On one level, children get swept up in the adventure where two young women with symbolic names, Joy (Kate Spencer) and Hope (Heather Porte), living on Planet Brain, enlist the children to help them battle the planet’s many monsters (carried on as puppets by the performers) who are intent on replacing the planet’s optimism with pessimism.
The children are given mind-mapping tasks – answering questions, remembering facts, performing movements, joining in on stage – that help Joy and Hope in their quest.
A giant brain (designer, Immy Howard) is suspended on coloured lines at the back of the stage, while with each scene, pages with pictures illustrating the scenes are visible in a tome facing the audience.
As each monster is vanquished by the children, their image is hung on the lines by the brain, like gold stars given for achievements in class.
For adults, the title suggests something more psychological, the characters battling the monsters of the id, with the setting within the play named after different locations of the brain.
Joy and Hope represent the right and left sides of the brain, the goblins and other creatures such as an ‘aware’ wolf, symbolic of humankind’s darker nature.
Spencer and Porte take on jokey American characters with medical names who interact with Joy and Hope, a fitness trainer called Jane Dorfin practicing neurobics and a meditation guru, Sarah Tonin, who gets the children giggling by squeezing a toy chicken at them.
Watson’s script is infused with poetry, internal and end rhymes delighting adult ears, surreal and earthy humour entertaining the kids.
The performers are approachable, enthusiastic and versatile in their roles showcasing their considerable talents.
The Playhouse has a hit on its hands.
