Review by: Paul Towers, 23/3/19
Janet by Helen Ainsworth, directed by John Mowat
Upstairs @ The Western, 23 March 2019
“surreal and off the wall puppetry
In amongst the regular evenings of poetry, spoken word and
improv Upstairs at The Western has booked some quite surreal, off the wall
shows. Janet is one such entertainment.
Helen Ainsworth is a puppeteer who specialises in using
everyday things as well as traditional puppets to tell stories. John Mowat is a
performer/director and has been working with Helen for 5 years. Together they
appeal to both adult and child audiences. Janet is definitely for the grown ups.
Set in a kitchen Helen manufactures characters from utensils
and bread dough to tell the tortured tale of the union between an over-critical
mother (Premium French Flour) and a less than faithful father (a 1950’s milk
churn). After nature takes its course Janet, a lump of bread dough, is the result.
Despite her refusal to follow her destiny and a torrid encounter with Derek (a
rolling pin) Janet ends up as a very nice round of cucumber sandwiches which
the audience very much appreciated.
Ainsworth, hidden behind an over large chef’s hat and
dressed in chef’s whites, uses an array of accents to tell the story as well as
making a typical baker’s mess all over the floor.
Future performances and details of other shows can be found
at www.helenandjohn.co.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment