Playing at the Assembly Rooms, Studio 5. Yellow Bird Chase is an utter joy from start to finish. Early in the piece, they let the audience know they can participate, singalong, point and shout by drawing up onto the stage adults and children alike. This open encouragement of play on either side of the stage sets the tone for the duration.
We meet our three contemporary clowns who, following a fortuitous discovery, end up on a journey to capture a beautiful yellow bird. These varied and rich characters have different objectives, allowing each actor to then play with their dynamic and provide some joyful spontaneity and mischief.
We have the greedy, determined and arrogant Cap Cap who fancies himself the leader of the group. His personal mission is to see how he can exploit the bird. Secondly, the gentle and lacking in confidence Poodge, who often ends up being the one that comes up with the best solutions. Last but not least, the grounded and almost maternal figure of Toodles who is the glue who holds the merry band together.
The set wouldn’t look out of place if you open the door to any caretakers office in your local school or indeed university which is where the studio is located. They make deft use of every day items to create the world of the ‘Flutterzar’ which is their word for the bird they are chasing. The gorgeously twee and laugh inducing made up language is worth a mention as one of the driving factors in much of the laughter from the adults in the room.
Our trio of protagonists make their way over hill and dale, through mountain, river, ocean and sky. Consistently facing a number of very mildly perilous moments, which the children absolutely loved.
There were children from babes in arms up to around eight years old in the audience and my read of them was that they were magnetically engaged with the piece and desperate for our protagonists to succeed.
Yellow Bird Chase is an imaginative and joyful tale, delivered with expert clowning, touching moments and guaranteed to have your children beaming throughout.
