UCLU Runaground - Jabberwocky

UCLU Runaground: The Jabberwocky

UCLU Runaground - JabberwockyCaspar Mark Cech-Lucas and Laurence Young’s version of the classic poem takes as its premise a boy whose mother is ill and so takes a journey of the imagination into the world of the Jabberwocky to deal with his separation anxiety and fears of losing his mother. The cast of seven use a variety of performance techniques to portray both the boy’s real world and the imaginary world of the Jabberwocky. The play is separated into chapters very clearly, using shadow puppet lettering against the white screen background on an otherwise almost bare stage.

The nine performers either work as an ensemble or more often work in distinct groupings of three, two, three, and one. Matthew Neubauer, Charlotte Holtum and Bella Driessen play the boy, his mother and grandmother; they are charming and engaging, although it’s clear that the creative team have more to learn about how to make work for children. The performance is very childlike in that it comes from a child’s perspective but few opportunities are taken to reach out to and engage children in the audience. Louise Farnall, Lia Lee and Matt Aldridge work as a triple act of Borogoves, Polly Cohen and Vincenzo Monachello are the momeraths and Ally Rooms is the doctor.

The performance is episodic and whimsical as you would expect, costumes and puppets are used to great effect on a limited budget and a lot of enthusiasm, particularly the Jabberwocky itself which is suitably impressive in a small venue. The music by Jude Obermüller is quite lovely. Older children will get quite a lot from this performance, but parents bringing younger children are likely to face some tricky questions afterwards.

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About Adam Bennett

Adam Bennett is a professional puppeteer, theatre maker, dramaturg and performance tutor. His 30-year career has seen him tour and perform professionally in Australia, Asia and Europe, as well as develop and manage shows for DNA Puppetry and Visual Theatre, The Western Australian Youth Theatre Company, and Little Angel Theatre.