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Writer/director/actor and general theatrical factotum Phil Willmott brings his free open air theatre back for another year, starting with a jolly little kids’ show based on Polish folklore. It’s in a double bill with ‘Crime & Punishment: A Rock Musical’ and, the vagaries of London weather aside, the slightly bonkers fairytale, with plenty of pantomime elements and a brilliant dragon puppet by Jonny Dixon, isn’t bad - especially since it’s completely free.
Imagine ‘Frozen’ (whose similarities the shows wryly notes) with a dragon. Princess Wanda has a heart made of ice and she freezes whoever she sneezes on. But it’s time for her – because she’s a good little princess – to get a husband, so she has to take her pick from an evil fire breathing demigod (who turns into the titular dragon), a prince who admits he’s ‘as thick as fog’ or our plucky hero Skuba the inventor (the sprightly Aran MacRae). Skuba is poor, of course, so it’s not an ideal match but they fall in love and overcome obstacles like her hay fever and his poorness.
Willmottrather touchingly picked this story as a small antidote to the rise in racism directed against Polish people post-Brexit. That Slavic identity still shines through, with plenty of references to Polish food and folklore.
The production has plenty of jaunty original songs by Theo Holloway, based on Polish folk tunes. They’re strong CBeebies-esque fodder, bouncy enough to get babies bobbing and to fill a bit of time. Young kids are definitely the target audience here and, considering it’s completely free, it’s a pleasant slice of late summer panto.