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There’s more than a dash of the high psychedelic era of kids’ TV to this enjoyably surreal puppet theatre show for ages two to five, written and directed by Michael Fowkes.
The plot of ‘Sleepyhead’ essentially runs thusly: dopey moustachioed dad attempts to put naughty baby to bed; naughty baby vamps for time by persuading dad to demonstrate some magic tricks; dad nods off; baby starts mucking about with dad’s magician’s paraphernalia; baby opens a portal to SOMEWHERE; mischievous rabbit emerges from it; trippy chaos ensues.
It’s very fun: a loopy adventure with lots of humour, incident and the odd well-worn gimmick to keep the young attentions hooked (a bubble machine interlude gets them tottering into the aisles). There is also a tremendous charm – perhaps especially so for accompanying adults – in the slight disconnect between the puppets’ big, dopey, blank faces, and the rather more knowing expressions of their operators Phil Yarrow and Roddy Peters.
It’s worth noting that a couple of friends’ two-year-olds found it a bit too surreal (one had to leave), but mine laughed like a drain throughout, and at one point had to be restrained from invading the stage to pick up some carrots. At the very least, ‘Sleepyhead’ isn’t going to make anyone in the audience nod off.
'Sleepyhead' is on tour in Autumn 2018. This review is from November 2017.