THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES. To 27 August.

Edinburgh

THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES
by Richard Medrington and Rick Conte based on the story by Jean Giono.

North Edinburgh Arts Centre for THE BANK OF SCOTLAND CHILDREN’S INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2007 To 28 May then touring.
Runs 50mins. No interval.

TICKETS: 0131 228 1404.
Review: Thelma Good 28 May 2007.

Sensuously environmental.
Once upon a time just before the First World War Jean encounters a French shepherd who a few years earlier had started planting trees in an area where people had made their surroundings a near desert. Played in a relaxed, gently humorous style by Scotland’s Puppet State Theatre Company, this fictional tale is carried mainly by the Shepherd’s very endearing, energetic and slightly dim Dog, given movement and character by Rick Conte, and Jean, played by Richard Medrington.

Ailie Cohen created the set and puppets - the Dog, the Shepherd and assorted sheep and birds. Cohen also directs Medrington and Conte in their own script. This trio make a very successful creative partnership, giving adults and children of 7+ a tale which is visually, aurally and sensually memorable. The use of lavender and then forest aromas, wafted by tree-shaped fans over the audience, fixes in our memories the change in the vast area where over decades the shepherd planted trees.

Along with our senses, our hearts and minds are engaged by a finely crafted mix of comedy, delight and characterisation in this tale. There’s interplay between Conte, the Dog, and Medrington adding insight into the charms of performance, while the comic moments between Dog and Jean over the years provide an effective counterpoint to Jean Giono’s tale.

All ensures the dramatisation inspires us to believe that things can happen through one person’s action and that maybe we each can make real changes in the world. The Man who Planted Trees in Puppet State’s version contains a truth, one it plants more deeply in our hearts than it might if it were based on an actual person’s story.

Performers : Richard Medrington and Rick Conte

Director/Designer/Puppets: Ailie Cohen.
Sound: Barney Strachan.

2007-05-31 00:32:18