Pangolin’s Teatime are to be congratulated for making full and inventive use of space—surrounding the spectator with the action by performing behind translucent screens on all four sides of the room creates an impact when one enters the auditorium. This effect is further enhanced by the stereophonic cacophony of animal calls (performed ably by the performers) that helps to effectively create the atmosphere of being on the jungle floor.
The story itself, told through the modes of shadow, rod and hand puppetry is a poignant origin tale whose action is divided between the world of the natural, the supernatural and the human. Such narrative complexity demands clarity of execution and it is here that Pangolin’s Teatime sometimes falls short. The acoustics of the space are not efficiently handled, resulting in a lot of dialogue getting lost due to excessively fast and unmodulated delivery, which rather hampers understanding of the layered narrative. The characters representing the human world are possibly the weakest elements of the play, especially since they fall short of conveying their circumstances with conviction, and their isolation in the jungle is particularly undermined by Lucinda’s bizarrely unsuitable attire for mountaineering.
However, in spite of these small details, the puppetry is largely impressive, Felix Trench’s Tiger is played with regal gravity while Leonie Hamway and Gwennie Von Einsiedel’s Horatio and Clarence, a duo of posh but rather dastardly bears, are wonderfully and wittily voiced.
This young company definitely have the potential to transport their spectators to another, more magical world—something they might well achieve with more time and polish.
3/5 
Padmini Ray Murray
