Dragon Shows for Babies – Tale of the Ice Dragon
★★★★★ Spellbinding
LifeCare Centre (Venue 524): Thurs 1 – Tue 20 Aug 2024
Review by Katrina Dixon
Enchantment and entrancement for babies and adults make Tale of the Ice Dragon a must-see show, filled with magical creatures, movement, song and, most important, sensitivity and heart.
Creative director Rachel Huggins and musical director Corrine Hewat’s interactive story of discovery, featuring a mysterious egg, mother dragons and a journey through the seasons is told at a jolly but gentle pace. There is no forced fun here, and everyone gets to feel part of the imaginative world created.
Performers Corrina Hewat and Rachel Huggins. Pic: Dragon Song Productions
Stunningly handcrafted large hand-puppets by Jane Phillips of Raggedy Rouge Puppets take centre stage, complemented by inventive set design and props. It’s a Sensurround experience, with bubble machines, soft lights and colours, a sparkling lit-up Christmas Tree and a glowing large bodhran for a full moon, plus tinkling piano music.
Thoughtful additions make the whole show easy, engaging and fun for the parents, guardians and caregivers. There’s plenty of space for the many, many buggies to be parked at the edge of the large, open performance space. The audience can sit for the show on a large play-mat or on the semi-circle of seats surrounding it.
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Adults get to do what they need to do to keep the babies and toddlers happy, whether that involves moving around, bouncing or feeding them. Goodie bags (for during the show only) give everyone a chance to join in, with percussion instruments and light toys. Photo-taking is allowed, but with a friendly reminder ‘not to let the camera overtake your experience of the show’.
It’s just easy to relax and enjoy the show as Hewat and Huggins keep the youngsters’ attention riveted throughout. It’s quite a sight to see several dozen babies and toddlers ‘flying’, stretching out their arms to the length of a dragon’s tail, or marvelling as a star-filled large textile ‘sky’ swells up and down above them, courtesy of the circle of adults around the play-mat
Dragon Song Productions have rightly been acclaimed since 2019 for creating spellbinding yet relaxing shows for children. Long may the wonder continue.
Running time: 40 minutes (no interval)
LifeCare Centre (George Young Hall), 2 Cheyne St, EH4 1JB (Venue 524)
Thurs 1 – Sat 20 Aug 2024
Daily (not Suns 4, 11, 18) 11.30am.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Dragon Song Production links:
Website: http://www.dragonsongproductions.co.uk/
Instagram: @dragon_song_productions
Facebook: @Dragon Song Productions
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