Annabella Gamboni
I’m not a parent, but I did take a two-year-old to The Lost Letter. She doesn’t have a lot of words, and theatre definitely isn’t one of them, but she was riveted for almost all the 50 minutes of this Capital E National Theatre for Children show – and if that isn’t an advertisement for kids’ theatre, I don’t know what is.
Presented by Capital E’s National Theatre for Children, The Lost Letter is a very charming production that invites kids to make sense of its story with clowns, music, and clever AV design.
It follows three characters: young girl Nixie (Johanna Cosgrove), NahNah the witch (Jen McArthur) and a postie (Braedyn Togi).
Nixie is newly arrived in town. As she unpacks her room, she seems lonely and a bit sad. To cheer herself up, she tries to do some magic – but she’s not too successful at that, either. Across the valley, good witch NahNah is clearly having no trouble with her spells.
Nixie and NahNah write each other a letter, but unfortunately, they both get lost on the way. The postie goes on an intrepid journey trying to find them and runs into three very strange characters at the post office.
The three performers bring a lovely big energy to the piece. They don’t speak a word, but their big movements and facial expressions speak volumes to little kids. A special shout out to Togi, who must run about three kilometres round the stage after various bits of post.
A real highlight for me though was the design, which was both clean and contained plenty of bits for kids to spot and feel clever about. There was a wee mouse house at the front of the stage that caused huge mirth, a pulley system the performers interacted with, and tiny hooting birds that delivered props. The art direction in general, including the score, felt really polished.
The AV – a projector on the back of the stage – also expanded the setting and made transitions truly seamless. Plus, there’s an extended scene where Togi shoots through the sky with his water bottle ‘jetpack’. Spoiler: that scene also contains a fart joke – the one essential ingredient for all kids’ shows.
If I could pick at one thing in this overall very well-done show, it would be that the clowning section at the post office goes on just a few minutes too long, and I could hear a few kids in the audience lose interest.
Fortunately, the cast brought it back for the closing scenes. The lost letters of the title finally find their correct homes, Nixie does some good magic, and everyone leaves happy.
Kids and their parents will love the down-to-earth charm of The Lost Letter, which has now come to the end of its nationwide tour.
It follows three characters: young girl Nixie (Johanna Cosgrove), NahNah the witch (Jen McArthur) and a postie (Braedyn Togi).
Nixie is newly arrived in town. As she unpacks her room, she seems lonely and a bit sad. To cheer herself up, she tries to do some magic – but she’s not too successful at that, either. Across the valley, good witch NahNah is clearly having no trouble with her spells.
Nixie and NahNah write each other a letter, but unfortunately, they both get lost on the way. The postie goes on an intrepid journey trying to find them and runs into three very strange characters at the post office.
The three performers bring a lovely big energy to the piece. They don’t speak a word, but their big movements and facial expressions speak volumes to little kids. A special shout out to Togi, who must run about three kilometres round the stage after various bits of post.
A real highlight for me though was the design, which was both clean and contained plenty of bits for kids to spot and feel clever about. There was a wee mouse house at the front of the stage that caused huge mirth, a pulley system the performers interacted with, and tiny hooting birds that delivered props. The art direction in general, including the score, felt really polished.
The AV – a projector on the back of the stage – also expanded the setting and made transitions truly seamless. Plus, there’s an extended scene where Togi shoots through the sky with his water bottle ‘jetpack’. Spoiler: that scene also contains a fart joke – the one essential ingredient for all kids’ shows.
If I could pick at one thing in this overall very well-done show, it would be that the clowning section at the post office goes on just a few minutes too long, and I could hear a few kids in the audience lose interest.
Fortunately, the cast brought it back for the closing scenes. The lost letters of the title finally find their correct homes, Nixie does some good magic, and everyone leaves happy.
Kids and their parents will love the down-to-earth charm of The Lost Letter, which has now come to the end of its nationwide tour.