My Dad's a Birdman

Synopsis

Everyone is in a twitter in a rainy town in the north of England; Dad is eating flies and feathering his nest, daughter Lizzie is building her wings and Mr. Poop is parading the streets shouting louder and louder: ‘the Great Human Bird Race is coming to town!’. But Auntie Doreen disapproves and is out to bring some order back to the house! Will Lizzie and Dad get a chance to fly? This is a poignant, exuberant tale of the healing power of the imagination and a very special father-and-daughter bond. MY DAD’S A BIRDMAN is an enchanting play for children aged four and over that will teach its young audience about the importance of families, trust and caring. Age 3-6

Our Review:

Michael Coveney - 30 November 2010

Although it slumps a bit in the middle, and doesn’t match up fully to previous Young Vic Christmas shows for kids, David Almond’s tale of a disgruntled dad and his daughter who enter a flying competition across the Tyne is a pretty good seasonal start for all five year-olds upwards.

It’s beautifully staged, too, by Oliver Mears, with a splendid ramp for the take-offs – no hi-tech, over-elaborate flying nonsense as in the ill-fated Spiderman show in New York – even if the music by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of the Pet Shop Boys is lazy, nothing special.

An edge of disappointment is guaranteed, too, by the show’s presence in the Maria studio, not the main house (where The Glass Menagerie continues), but the theatre keeps faith with this Tyneside parable, first work-shopped around the time of the great staging of Almond’s Skellig by Trevor Nunn, and since re-drawn as a short story.

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Latest User Review

habitue - 30 November 2010:

I do agree that the songs are a weak area, but as for a piece of children's theatre this is a much welcomed return to the high standard expected of the Young Vic. The spectators were mesmerised and a young audience enticed into a quirky and imaginative story which had plenty of appeal to adults as well. Thoroughly recommended....

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