Me As a Penguin

Synopsis

Sick of the tiny seaside town he grew up in, Stitch has decided to hit the gay scene of Hull. Or at least to dip his toe in the water while staying with heavily pregnant sister Liz and her shabby sofa loving partner Mark. But why won’t Stitch let anyone into the bathroom even though Liz is dying for a pee? And who is the man in the giant penguin costume? Featuring dance routines, a new baby, an old (and faithful) sofa, Me As a Penguin is a funny and tender look at what it means to find a place where you really belong.

Our Review:

10 June 2010

Penguins are strangely compelling creatures: they’ve captured the imagination of countless children on television in BBC’s cartoon Pingu, then probably the same kids as adults in the French documentary March of the Penguins, and on card in Edward Monkton’s illustrated Penguin of Death. But how to bring a penguin to the stage? That’s one question that’s been answered by Tom Wells, hot young playwright from Hull whose latest play Me As A Penguin is finishing its national tour at the West Yorkshire Playhouse this weekend. The answer, obviously, is with the help of a giant penguin costume, and a Transformers lunchbox.

Such a mixture of the expected and the unexpected is emblematic of the simple contrasts Wells often uses to convey his ideas, with familiar images given new resonance: I’ll never look at another kid’s lunchbox without remembering the small penguin that central character Stitch secreted inside it, the ultimate aquatic bird-smuggling aid.

This theft...

Read more of the review

Latest User Review

No reviews yet

Click here to add your review