I just went to see Skitterbang Island at Polka Theatre! Similar to The Tiger Who Came to Tea in maybe one way- three actors, one male and two female in each. Other than that, a completely different atmosphere, story, and feeling.
While The Tiger Who Came to Tea constantly addressed the audience, they came in from the side of the theatre and waved hello to us before the show began, Skitterbang Island went into full swing immediately, telling the story of a girl and her uncle whose ship gets wrecked, and in the process of trying to find each other, Marie, the little girl, meets Skitterbang, a nice monster.
Skitterbangs intimate black box allowed children to see cross-legged on the floor, while The Tiger Who Came to Tea was in the theatre where Thriller Live also plays- so each child got their own ‘theatre seat’.
However, even with these large differences, both audiences highly enjoyed each performance (as did I). The puppets in Skitterbang were amazingly well crafted, and have only furthered my love for puppets and wish to master them (Maybe next summer’s adventure? Quite possibly!)
Skitterbang Island also is a new story to add to the cannon of TYA, something that David has done in the past, but also loves writing adaptations!
If you would like to really get into my research shoes, definitely check out this article by David! It discusses the difference between different types of childrens theater (ex. family theatre vs. theatre directed for a certain age group specifically) and quality vs. quantity of children’s theatre!
http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/jul/03/david-wood-the-tiger-who-came-to-tea-west-end