I Want My Hat Back
National Theatre
By Jon Klassen, Adapted by Joel Horwood
Directed by Wils Wilson
Music Arthur Darvill
Set and Costume Fly Davis
Lighting Becky Stoddart
Sound Joel Price
Nominated for Olivier Award Best Family Show 2016
hipster aesthetic is a delight
Guardian 4**** Fly Davis’s DIY design has pot plants for trees and animal ears for costumes, while the chorus’ rapid changes of character often happen in full view. It’s a production that gets that kids understand pretending.
Guardian Observer 4**** Inspired home spun magic.
What’s on Stage 4****Fly Davis’s design is a retro delight: a forest salvaged from Oxfam, all orange-brown wallpaper and spidery pot plants. Creatures wear patterned knitwear and snazzy leggings: there’s a fox with a handlebar moustache and a tortoise in a cagoule. Larwood’s bear wears a balaclava and the house band are stags in short shorts – or le-deer-hosen, if you like.
Time Out 4****everyone is decked out in retro knitwear, a band with bowl haircuts and reindeer deely boppers tinkles out easy listening music, there is a distinct air of Scandinavian kitsch
The Stage 4**** The National Theatre’s high production values are evident. It’s fairly unusual these days to see anything for preschoolers that employs a cast of eight – far fewer is more usual. The set is quite elaborate, with lots of plants, cosy furniture, wallpaper, detailed props etc, even in the passages into the Temporary Space. And the metamorphosis of Naana Agyei-Ampadu’s squat caterpillar into a magnificent golden butterfly is really special. Arguably, children’s theatre is the most important part of the whole industry, so it’s good to see it being invested in properly.