Eva Ibbotson's award-winning book about alienation and belonging comes to the stage in an adaptation by Carl Miller that was written and designed especially for this intimate theatre. Miller's script strips the narrative down into a series of impressionistic, suggestive scenes that follow the progress of Maia, and Edwardian orphan, who travels to Brazil to live with her distant relatives, the Carter family.
But the Carters, who shut themselves off from the vibrancy of the local culture and the lush Amazonian scenery surrounding them, are a mean and venal bunch, and Maia quickly realises that she must look elsewhere to find a true home. With an eight-strong company of actors playing all the parts, and creating each scene with a bare minimum of props, this is a fluid and dynamic theatrical experience that the kids I was sitting with responded to brilliantly. The book itself is full of music, and this production follows suit with a variety of instrumental combinations, singing, chanting and percussion. The choreography, too, (by Jeanefer Jean-Charles) is full of energy and imagination - the London School of Capoeira had an input in some dance/fight scenes.
My niece, aged nine, had read the book and approved thoroughly of the adaptation; my daughter, nearly six was younger than the suggested age of seven plus, but found the musical elements swept her past any difficulties she had with details of the plot. As for my nephew, eight - he complained afterwards that the 'wasn't enough killing' for his bloodthirsty tastes, but seemed pretty engrossed during the performance. All agreed it was an excellent day out - and recommended is a play session in the fountains by the Thames Path afterwards.
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