Heelie-go-Leerie!
What the critics have said
SITTING at my feet is a bounce of very lively wee boys. On my right is a granny with a just-toddling little girl. We are are giggling, all excited and happy - and totally focussed on a game of Witches Fingers, which the splendidly energetic cast of Heelie-go-Leerie have just taught us. You touch, with one finger, the person in front of you. On stage, the designated witch says:"I have a cup of..." and if she says "poison", you break contact. smartish. But of course she says other things and we all get caught out. The granny is smiling, remembering, perhaps, her own childhood games.
It's this kind of play - the "lets pretend" and the ensuing imaginary adventures - that the Licketyspit company celebrates by drawing us into a future world where there's a hint of real, and indeed possible, danger. For when Bella (Chris Devaney), Kaiser (Paul Chaal) and Taz (John Mcauley) come together on a ramshackle scrap heap - cunningly designed by Ali Maclaurin to accommodate oodles of fast-paced, athletic clamberings - they discover that there's a hole in the Big Roof that protects the world from deadly pollution.
With their quest to fix it as a plot-line, writer/director Virginia Radcliffe taps into he magic forces of make-believe:the stories our grannies tell us whatever culture we come from, of dragons;rhymes that make words and sounds skip like dance music;and the fun that lives in letting minds and bodies go Heelie-go-Leerie (Head-over-Heels). With lots of audience participation, this show proved a vivid reminder that child's play can run, brilliantly, without batteries included. Mary Brennan, THE HERALD
What the children have said
“I loved the going to the moon bit. I loved doing the witch game. I loved watching the whole bit of the show Heelie go Leerie”
“The dragon sucked all the smoke. Then he disappeared. the children came out and they saw the smoke is gone and then they saw the blue sky. They were happy”.
“It’s a dragon looking at people. I liked going to the theatre. It was awful good. I liked the lights”
What a teacher said
Our school have just been to your show today in Peebles and we thought it was fabulous. We really loved the energy and sheer imagination - it totally captivated the children. You know your audience very well!
We are also interested in the teachers' packs since we'd like to build on the rhymes and inspiring ideas in the show. With many thanks. Catriona Stark, P2 teacher Kingsland Primary School Peebles.