THE 91 STOREY TREEHOUSE by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton.
Adapted for the stage by Richard Tulloch. Artistic Director Julian Louis. Director Liesel Bedorrek. Set and costume designer Mark Thompson. Sound designer Ross Johnston. Lighting designer Nicholas Higgins. Costume realization Matthew Aberline. Presented by CDP Kids Production and the Canberra Theatre Centre. Canberra Theatre. February 1 and 2 2019.
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Danielle King, Freya Pragt, Andy Griffiths, Teal Howie and Amuel Welsh |
Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton’s
treehouses just keep getting bigger and brighter and better and bouncier. Live
on stage for the first time, Richard Tulloch’s fantastical, funny and furiously
active adaptation of The 91 Storey Treehouse dazzles and
delights the obsessive readers of a
series that captures the imagination, turns the treehouse worlds of Terry and
Andy and Jill upside down and round-about with madcap adventures, crazy
characters and heaps of hysterically funny shenanigans.
Writer Griffith and illustrator
Denton have hit upon the evergreen magic key that opens the door to the child’s
imagination. It is not the world of fairy tales but rather a fantastical
journey into the unknown and the unexpected, a world of undersea perils, creepy
crawly spiders, spinning whirlpools and terrifying tornados. And yet, in spite
of its startling originality, the conventions are classical elements of
children’s literature, twisted to turn familiarity into quirky surprise.
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| Genie, Terry, Jill and Andy. Photo Heidrun Lohr |
Adaptor, Tulloch, a leading writer of theatre for young people, is a master of
the craft. The 91 Storey Treehouse
team weave a fantastical web of weird and wonderful adventures, while holding
on to the eternal traditions of childhood fascination. There is the villainous
fortune teller of dubiously depicted Eastern European nationality, Madam
Know-all (Danielle King), extravagantly and colourfully costumed by Matthew
Aberline, intent on draining everybody’s brain of knowledge. There is tumbling,
stumbling slapstick over, around and up and down Mark Thompson’s brilliantly
conceived Treehouse set. There are puns galore and malapropisms too, mainly
from the lips of the less than bright Terry (Teal Howie). Even Andy (Samuel
Welsh) is none too bright when it comes to dealing with spiders or remembering
names, and it takes Jill (Freya Pragt) to rescue the boys from a harmless furry
huntsman. How puppet Mt. Big Nose could
entrust his grandchildren to such an unlikely team of babysitters defies
comprehension, but is sure to create further confusion and anyway, suspense is
nail-biting high when it seems that Terry may push the dangerous red button and
blow them all sky high.
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| Terry, Madam Know-all and Andy. Photo Heidrun Lohr |
Of course, like any good
children’s story, The 91 Storey Treehouse
ends happily with a flourish of inflated, colourful branches and a bouncy
finale that has every child in the audience clapping loudly and every adult remembering
that a child’s world of imagination is something too good to let go. The show
is advertised for 6-12 year olds, but like every top quality kids’ production,
this is one for everyone who still takes joy in a child-like love of adventure,
danger and silliness that still ends happily ever after.
How high can a treehouse grow?
Higher than the highest branch of the imagination it seems and then further
still until it reaches the last leaf of the imagination and that will only be
when children cease to imagine and that will never be. Be sure to climb up this
CDP Kids Production’s treehouse and from the very top keep looking out for The 104 Storey Treehouse when Terry and
Andy and Jill will take you to new thrilling heights.