SCENES FROM A TREE created and developed by Nathalie Derome, Amelie Dumoulin and Karine Sauve (Des mots dla dynamite/Young Peoples Theatre). At YPT (165 Front East). Runs to February 26. $19-$24. See listing. 416-862-2222, youngpeoplestheatre.ca. Rating: NNN
If youre looking for something to do with children between 18 months and four years this Family Day (or anytime through next weekend), check out Scenes From A Tree, a charming, gentle piece by Montreal company Des mots dla dynamite.
Running 35 minutes and holding the childrens attention (no one was restless at the performance I saw), the show relies on melody, colour and some surprising visuals to look at seasonal change and how we all develop over time.
Its characters are a trio of tree-like beings (Nathalie Derome, Anne Brulotte-Legare and Audree Southiere) with bits of fern and wood in their hair who, as we enter the theatre, knit red yarn and sing African-based tunes. Using a mixture of gibberish and emotionally enveloping songs (with lyrics like I love you, so Ill never let you go), they tell the story of several generations of trees through the seasons, beginning with summer.
As the seasons progress, leaves blow in the wind, birds warble the young viewers sometimes imitated the actors movements snowballs fly and maple syrup starts to run and, in the finale, a basket is filled with red cherries.
Much of the shows charm for older audience members is the puppetry, which draws on knitting needles, balls of yarn and woven materials to suggest walking a dog, a long and tiny clothesline and a green carpet that becomes a landscape complete with grass, forests, sheep, a river and an automobile.
The productions visual highlight (Melanie Charest designed the set) is a clothesline on which are pinned clouds, clouds that morph into kids clothing and then, magically, into a neighbourhood of children their daily activities become the episodes soundscape.
And if your children want a souvenir of the show, everyones invited up to the stage at the end to receive one of the cherries as a gift.
