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Theatre Review: Dragon

Lorna Irvine is completely enchanted and amazed by the tour production.

Poignant multi-layered evocation of the pain of loss and teenage life trials or cool, colourful show for kids with bad-ass puppets? Dragon, Vox Motus' stunning production, in conjunction with the National Theatre of Scotland and Tianjin Children's Arts theatre, is both.

Tommy (a wonderful Scott Miller, making his debut) lost his mother a year ago and is acting out through impotent frustration. Demons appear to him in the symbolic form of dragons, ever increasing in size—some of whom laugh, some who are ferocious. He struggles with studying, his sullen sister is no help and his father, struggling to cope, is involved with a new lady (the elegant Adura Onashille).

Every single element is wonderfully integrated, like a Chinese puzzle—from the twinkling music box score by Tim Phillips to the amazing puppets created by Jamie Harrison and Guy Bishop. Oliver Emanuel's narrative can be brutal at times but never feels too terrifying for children or sentimental for adults: smart, witty and achingly moving. There is practically no dialogue, until the conclusion.

The frenetic movement/choreography is at times reminiscent of Paper Cinema, whether focusing on his father's meltdown, the smitten girl chasing him or the teen rituals of bravado among peers at the park and zit-squeezing in the bathroom mirror. It seems like the fast forward button on old VCRs. The young vibrant cast move from scene to shifting scene with the e-numbered fuel of kids and the ‘chop socky’ of martial arts films.

Above all, Emanuel understands the nuances of grief that come with losing a parent, of how it can hit at the most unexpected moments. Tommy's final howl of anguish in his father's arms is truly heart-breaking, but, young as he is, the lad is self-aware enough to know that one day, the clouds part and there is a way ahead.

A beautiful, visually poetic show for all ages, but perhaps not younger children.

Dragon is at the Citizens Theatre until October 19th, before touring nationally.

Tags: theatre

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