Image loving filched from sohotheatre.com
I’ve seen a lot of child friendly theatre recently…In fact it feels like the blog has been nothing but theatre reviews over December…almost as if we’d had a stomach bug between each trip and had spent the intervening days desperately trying to get well again instead of cavorting around London. Well, this particular stomach bug (Roo) cleared up just in time to catch one of the last performances of “Funz and Gamez” at the Soho Theatre. For once I wasn’t going as a reviewer – the tickets were a gift from Roo’s godmother’s brother, obviously – but I’m going to review it anyway. Incidentally, one of the performers was Roo’s godmother’s brother’s friend so we had some prior warning that the show might be a little more anarchic than “Peppa Pig’s Big Splash”. Also incidentally you can buy Roo’s godmother’s brother’s book here. I know…I’m a giver.
Anyway, the show was a sell out in every way – apparently Phil had a divorce to pay for- and finding seats for the three of us together wasn’t easy. We ended up in the third row, which was lucky although not as close to the end as I would have liked, given Roo’s recently recovered tummy.
(You would not believe what just happened. I’m writing this on the tube home and as I wrote those last four words, Reuben suddenly went pale and whispered “I need the toilet”. I have never moved so fast in my life. FYI the nearest toilet to Seven Sisters station is in Costa on the High Road. We bought a muffin to.justify it)
As I was saying… It was free seating and the front and the ends of rows were particularly popular because they increased your chances of getting chosen for “gamez”. The whole premise was the three performers – Phil, Bonzo the Dog and Jimmy the Elf- staging a surreal game show for kids. A bit like “Shooting Stars” meets “Fun House” on a shoestring budget.
But obviously there was more to it – along the way we had songs, banter and life lessons. It quickly became clear that this was a different kind of child-friendly – the life lessons might take a bit of explaining when you get home (“Don’t ask for a dog when you’re 7…You’ll only lose it during your A Levels”) but it all hinges on the idea that a lot of it will go right over the kids’ heads. And it did. Roo’s abiding memory is pelting Jimmy the Elf with balls, rather than the sudden passing of creepy Uncle Mick. There were bits where I was in tears laughing but simultaneously shielding my child’s eyes from the utter wrongness onstage. A show that appeals to kids and adults on different levels is hugely difficult to pull off and a gamble that could go horribly wrong. Just like inadvertently causing a small child to go digging around in your jacket pocket.
With that in mind, I’m not sure these guys will ever be allowed to perform a kids’ show ever again…And the run finishes tomorrow so you may have missed your chance. But if they manage to avoid any kind of lawsuit and return to the West End, be sure to check them out. It may be the wrong-est thing ever to bear a 5+ rating but it’s also blooming hilarious. After all, it’s all funz and gamez until someone gets a restraining order…
