Platform, The Bridge, Glasgow
4 stars
When a twelve year girl locks herself away in a black-walled bedroom with only her own thoughts and a sketch-pad for company, the private world she creates comes complete with a seven foot imaginary rabbit called Harvey. As invisible friends go, Hannah’s Harvey isn’t quite the fluffy bunny she’s dressed up as. A forebodingly sketched-in figure drawn from hand-me-down Sunday afternoon matinees and who resembles Hannah’s absent mum, even as the pair set sail on a voyage to some subverted Wonderland, Harvey seems intent on isolating Hannah even more than she already is. Only when Hannah confronts her floppy-eared demon does she finally get to a place she recognises as home.
There’s something quietly heart-warming about this new play for children by Tim Nunn and Katherine Morley’s Reeling and Writhing company, which tours as part of this year’s Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. Inspired and illustrated throughout by Nunn’s niece Helen Nunn, the salvation through artistic expression it relates is displayed through a set of vivid animations, which are driven along by Paul Rissman’s evocative score.
As performed by Romana Abercromby as Hannah, Stewart Ennis as the Dad only belatedly let into his daughter’s world, and Clare Waugh as Harvey, this hour-long show looks at some very serious issues by putting its own creativity first. Scripted by Nunn and directed by Morley, it’s all the more captivating because of this, and if there’s a mid-show lurch as Hannah’s Dad meets Harvey, by the time we get to the boxing match, the young people in the audience are cheering Hannah to victory, letting their own imaginations run free.
The Herald, October 13th 2008
ends
4 stars
When a twelve year girl locks herself away in a black-walled bedroom with only her own thoughts and a sketch-pad for company, the private world she creates comes complete with a seven foot imaginary rabbit called Harvey. As invisible friends go, Hannah’s Harvey isn’t quite the fluffy bunny she’s dressed up as. A forebodingly sketched-in figure drawn from hand-me-down Sunday afternoon matinees and who resembles Hannah’s absent mum, even as the pair set sail on a voyage to some subverted Wonderland, Harvey seems intent on isolating Hannah even more than she already is. Only when Hannah confronts her floppy-eared demon does she finally get to a place she recognises as home.
There’s something quietly heart-warming about this new play for children by Tim Nunn and Katherine Morley’s Reeling and Writhing company, which tours as part of this year’s Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. Inspired and illustrated throughout by Nunn’s niece Helen Nunn, the salvation through artistic expression it relates is displayed through a set of vivid animations, which are driven along by Paul Rissman’s evocative score.
As performed by Romana Abercromby as Hannah, Stewart Ennis as the Dad only belatedly let into his daughter’s world, and Clare Waugh as Harvey, this hour-long show looks at some very serious issues by putting its own creativity first. Scripted by Nunn and directed by Morley, it’s all the more captivating because of this, and if there’s a mid-show lurch as Hannah’s Dad meets Harvey, by the time we get to the boxing match, the young people in the audience are cheering Hannah to victory, letting their own imaginations run free.
The Herald, October 13th 2008
ends
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