Little Matter
There can’t be many other (or any other) groups appearing at this year’s Fringe who have built their own venue. But Hampshire-based theatre company The River People have put together their own travelling caravan, complete with awning, bench seating, candles, twinkling lights and colourful decorations, installed in a secret location near the Bedlam Theatre. The magic starts as soon as they welcome you inside it.
Nothing is hidden: all four performers narrate, manipulate the puppets, sing and play instruments, as well as changing the lighting and preparing scenery. Their puppetry is supple and lifelike, full of expression, even when some of the puppets – a pleading flower root, an unborn child – border on the macabre.
It’s a slow-moving piece, but there’s also a certain feeling of timelessness to the whole show, as if you’ve stepped away from the hurly-burly of the festival and into a simpler world. The production’s somewhat bleak conclusion only shows the group’s ambitiousness in dealing with some profound philosophical questions.
– David Kettle
