Lynley Dodd's tales of Hairy Maclary, the scampish terrier who gets up to all manner of mischief with his animal pals, never really did much for me as a little'un. But I found it rather fitting that the stories of the oft-identified Scottish pup should be brought to life in an Edinburgh theatre, and hoped there would be at least one soothing Scotch accent to assuage my ears amidst the loud tantrums breaking out from the young audience as we waited for the show to begin.Thankfully, Mrs Plum (Carrie Mancini) came to my auditory rescue, calming the children down with chiding 'chop chops' and launching into a merry song that favoured hand-clapping and foot-stamping over crying. She was a masterful compere for the kids, with her natural, easy manner and broad smile. She and the other performers held the children’s attention commendably during the performance; two toddlers in front of me literally remained perched on the edges of their seats throughout. Panto tactics (such as chasing the evil cat Scarface Claw offstage), sing-alongs, and learning to 'put your paws up' kept the audience interaction and thus the level of interest constantly up. A game of 'spot the pictures', puppetry, and even a bubble machine all contributed to the further captivation of the nippers.Unfortunately, after a substantial build-up, a bathetic arrival of the eponymous dog onstage drew audible cries of dismay from the young crowd. A shoddy costume for the canine protagonist was not either remotely doglike or faithful to the original book illustrations, and should see the costume designer relegated to the proverbial doghouse. A weird high-pitched yacking sound that was played as Maclary's bark (but sounded nothing like one) further confused the audience. Overall, I found the representation of Maclary to be highly lacklustre and uncharismatic, which was a shame, given whose show it was meant to be. Nevertheless, there is suitable fun and adventure to be had by young children who don't mind not being able to look at Maclary in quite the same way again. For the adults, there is always the sexual tension between Mrs Plum and Samuel the butcher to ogle. (Probably mostly imagined on my part... Although she does call him a 'big softie'. Make of that what you will.)
