Dumbshow - Clockheart Boy C 17 August

Dumbshow had two shows at the Fringe, one for family and one for adult audiences. Clockheart Boy, for families, was dark indeed. A big company of elaborately dressed characters are set in a fantasy land, reminiscent of something Tim Burton might create. Here The Professor built a gang of machines in human form to help him search for his daughter, who disappeared one day and never returned. Many years later, the machines are in storage and the daughter still unfound. Having just decided to re-start his search and brought his machine helpers to life again, a young boy is washed up on the beach nearby. He has no heart but The Professor gives him a clockwork one and raises him as a son and a human. A terrible secret is revealed, as we discover The Professor has also made a version of his daughter, who was locked up by the other machines. Machine daughter and Clockheart Boy look set for romance but the fantasy is short lived and Clockheart Boy is killed. Although it is in his power, The Professor decides he will not revive the boy. The Muppets this ain't! While given a U cert in the Fringe programme, a young girl in my audience (one of only 2 children I saw there) was clearly very scared by moments in the play - and it didn't seem the nice squirmy kind of scared that is a feature of dark fairy tales, she was just upset. I couldn't identify what audience this was aimed at, which is a bit of a handicap when booking something so would not recommend. If this was their family show, I'd be terrified to see the adult one.