Ellen Thorpe, ArtERY live: Edinburgh Village Hall 2012

Name of company	Chris Goode & Company & The Unicorn Theatre
Name of show	Monkey Bars
Genre	Theatre
Venue	Traverse Theatre
Date	24.8.12

Review Monkey Bars was interesting experimental theatre where adults speak the words of children. The ensemble behave and relate to one another like adults, the situations are adult and the whole presentation is subverted by the words of children.  As the audience arrived white light boxes inhabited the set and marked the performing space.  An actor sat on a light box and strummed a guitar and quietly sang a song and when you listened carefully, the words were nonsense and he was crooning to a jelly!  The set was simple, and each scene was punctuated by the actors moving the light boxes and the props around, and a general rearranging and re-positioning of the set.  All the actors were excellent; it was enjoyable to watch a good ensemble piece.  Some scenes involved the whole company and others only 2 or 3 of the players.  Though it was interesting as a piece of theatre it wasn't clear what the purpose or intent of the work was or whether the experiment worked or not.   To make the work the company asked thirty eight to ten year-olds to tell them us about their lives, their thoughts, their world.   The innocence of the dialogue was quite touching and the last question hung in the air ‘what is t like to be an adult’….

Why is the work suitable or not suitable / ready for rural touring ?	No suitable, it would be expensive and difficult to stage.
Why would you book them ?  or  Why wouldn’t you book them ?	No, not appropriate work.
Why would it be worth pursuing this company to consider work in the future? Or not  ?	No