Kidz own

Children can be some of the toughest customers to please. When you're aiming at that sector of the market, you've got to bear in mind just how critical and demanding they can be; irrespective of their lack of an ID card or financial independence. I was consequently quite interested to see what I would make of two local theatrical productions aimed at children, which took place recently.

Earlier this month, Curtain Raiser Productions put up a children's musical at St James Cavalier which ran for six days. Once Upon a Toy, as its name suggests, is about the adventures of a group of toys living in a toy shop, who come alive each night thanks to the magic dust sprinkled by the Toy Fairy. The main themes this musical tried to put across were those of friendship, love and self-confidence, which are universal lessons to be learnt from a young age. I chose to tap into the insight of a young critic myself, and went to watch a matinée with my seven-year-old cousin in tow.

As soon as we walked in, we were almost overcome by such an explosion of primary colours that for a moment I thought that we'd stumbled onto the set of a TV programme for pre-schoolers. The theatre in the round at St James had been transformed into a sunflower yellow toy shop with red accents, making me feel as though we were inside a giant lemon humbug. There was seating on three sides with the fourth taken up by a live band led by Dominic Galea who also wrote the music. In the gallery above the band was the baddies' lair, which contrasted well with the riot of colour below as it was rigged out in a forest of dark leaves with fluorescent veins. In addition to the colour, movement was added to the production by means of ladders connecting the two scenes, a port-hole, a large box on wheels in which the character of Jack-in-the-Box was wheeled around as well as the Toy Train on roller blades which led to several chase sequences which the children thoroughly enjoyed. Other effects included strobe lighting and showers of glitter and confetti, which all worked well together with a bit of audience involvement to create a fun and entertaining show for the kiddies.

Patrick Vella's original book and lyrics were quite appropriate for the purpose of this production, with a simple plot combining humour with humanity and scenes of heart-warming trust and friendship. My cousin's favourite characters were the Toy Soldier, who was the reluctant hero of the piece, played by Patrick Vella himself, and the Toy Fairy, portrayed by Ruth Farrugia. I personally favoured Tiziana Calleja's Hitch the Witch - a rock and rolling nasty who got one of the daddies from the audience to strum an invisible guitar. Puppeteer Daryl Ebejer, who was dressed as an outhouse from which two furry characters were hanging - Kozo the monster and Orang-utan - was outstanding in his use of different voices and technical skills. The entire cast delivered their lines clearly which is very important for any show, but particularly one aimed at children. What I found rather unimpressive was the witch's transformation into a rather feeble dragon and a finale which was slightly rushed and made the otherwise smooth development seem a tad abrupt.

Equally enjoyable was last Saturday's performance of a children's adaptation of Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Manoel Theatre. Being quite a fan of the classical genre, I was wondering how 18th century music could be made accessible to children and what I saw had a lot of promise. I think, however, that an age-limit should have been set; possibly for children aged seven and up. Audience members in the four to six age range did not appreciate such a good performance in the way that it deserved and it was rather disrupting hearing their whispering all the time.

Hats off to Sarah Spiteri for her excellent adaptation of the piece: she scripted the sections of straight acting between the operatic arias in a manner which is highly sympathetic to a child's sensibilities. Opera itself has all the elements which make for a gripping plot - the battle between good and evil, true love as well as comic interludes. I believe Ms Spiteri has accomplished a lot when it comes to putting an entertaining storyline to the notes of a great composer while keeping her audience firmly in mind. It comes as no surprise that her experience and professionalism in this field have made this adaptation a largely successful one.

Stage director Toni Attard also has to be congratulated for his influence on the overall positive levity which buoyed up the play. Together with Ms Spiteri, Mr Attard designed a whimsical and ethereal set in shades of blue, lilac and raspberry which reminded me of an illustration in a children's picture book. This worked so well with simple effects from smoke machines and helium-filled balloons which appeared as if by magic from a concealed trap-door to denote the qualities of the Flute's charmed trills, that the fairy tale setting was achieved almost effortlessly. Costume design was simple and appropriate in shades corresponding to the background and was reminiscent of Quentin Blake's endearing sketch-like drawings. I also thought that the introduction to the musical instruments at the beginning of the performance was a good bit of orchestra PR.

The characterisation was on the whole satisfactory, although clarity was not always maintained. Louis Cassar's Sarastro suffered particularly from insufficient clarity, although his interpretation was accurate in the serious tone which his character took. The Three Ladies, played by Michelle Cachia Castelletti, Marouska Attard and Clare Ghio, worked well together in creating a unified persona and their comic timing was well-paced, while Nicholas Agius Darmanin and Dorothy Baldacchino, who played Prince Tamino and his lover Princess Pamina, respectively gave well-rounded performances although they could have played up their character's innocence more heavily.

Pauline Longo's Queen of the Night was suffused with enough menace and malevolence but unfortunately there was some screechiness in the higher sections of her solo, which detracted from the scene's dramatic impact. Perhaps Kevin Caruana's Papageno was the best-loved character by the children because of his portrayal of the flawed but lovable sidekick, whose boastful turns and cowardly shivers made them giggle in all the right places.

I believe that the children are right on this one - his comic timing, quirkiness, blunt asides and deadpan comments along with a clear, strong voice won me over. His boastful introductory song and his refreshingly ridiculous love song with Enrique Cuschieri's Papagena were fun to watch and listen to. Cliff Zammit's Monostatos as Papagena's mean and selfish counterpart was strong, clear and had perhaps the best diction of the lot. Mr Zammit managed to convey the emotional turmoil of his character very well.

It's great to see that the production of performances aimed at young audiences is being encouraged. Hopefully this will fire their interest in culture, music and artistic expression.