BANK OF SCOTLAND INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S THEATRE FESTIVAL 2004.

IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS

Traverse 1 To 2 June
Runs 55min No interval

Highly impressive dance-theatre so good it could go further.Canda's Cas Public open their show for 6-12s with a speech about dance - how the theme of fear was developed through turning words into actions. The audience has a go at mobilising a phrase about fear of fire. It's as concise a way of demonstrating the process as can be found and helps move into the work proper.

The piece itself builds from introductory talk about individuals' fears to words with single moves, until movement becomes continuous, at first out-stripping, then taking over from the verbal, growing from individual to group action.

The movement itself is exciting, often intensified by lighting - and, this being about fear, use of darkness and shadowy patterns. These are themselves enhanced by the petal or leaf-strewn forest floor. A forest that is metaphorical home to the dark isolation of individuals' fears - including, dangerously self-referentially, the fear of performing.

But the five-strong company and their material are both more than good enough to leave the wish they had been braver in developing the piece. Considering how modern children's fiction and drama can, at their best, explore deep issues in a non-didactic way with resonant images, there's surely room for dance and choreography of this calibre to step some way beyond this rather anecdotal material. They need have no fear; today's young public can take it.

2004-06-03 16:28:07