In the dank courtyard of C too, I Theatre have created an African oasis, a warm and inviting place for you to take your wee one on a damp Edinburgh morning. The simple and colourful stage entrances. Here children can laugh and sing and clap their hands whilst learning some traditional African folk tales and little bit of Swahili on the side. Before the show started the three-man cast mingled and chatted amongst the wriggling audience. We were introduced to Storyteller, who explained the importance of the baobab tree for generating stories in her home country of Kenya. She is joined by two companions to sing a song about being good and listening properly. A sneaky plan to make an inherently distractible audience behave, this preamble went on just long enough to create a twinge of impatience. The stories themselves, reminiscent of the well known Just So Stories but with a distinctly African twist, focused on a parade of animals, including Hare, Coco the Crocodile, mummy and baby Ostrich, Monkey, Lion, Hyena, and an extraordinarily camp Zebra. Most of these rich characters were created with simple and effective costumes, and the rest as beautifully made puppets. One intrigued audience member became fascinated with Coco's tail, trailing it around the stage, much to the amusement of the crocodile himself. Camp Zebra was not as successful with the audience as perhaps was intended. The particular affectations of this thespian stage-junkie were wasted on such a young audience, leading to a noticeable increase in fidgeting during his prolonged and repeated appearances.The African tales were entertaining, and simple enough to be remembered and retold. While sometimes the conclusions and morals of the stories could have been delivered with more emphasis, it is refreshing to see alternative cultures communicated naturally, effectively and with confidence. Highly recommended for a morning of light and alternative educational entertainment.
