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The Tap Dancing Mermaid - Tessa Bide's beguiling Children's show - A Review from Edinburgh Fringe 2015

Tap Dancing Mermaid

Having seen an enjoyed Tessa Bide's two hander Arnold's Big Adventure at 2015 NRTF conference but struggled to think how we might present her interactive tent show perhaps better designed for festival context on Carn to Cove, I went to see this morning her one woman children's  show at Summerhall on the Edinburgh Fringe "The Tap Dancing Mermaid"

Tessa is an appealing young performer focusing on new work for children- bright and refreshing  this show is a delight for parents and children.  We enter the world of Marina Skippett who has a passion for tap dancing and the show is told narrated by old father Moon.  The set is colourful and full of things that kept the attention of babies and a host of adoring 5 ear old Mermaid fans following the action, which includes tap dancing, clever puppetry, loads of sploshing sound effects,   singing a song together,  blowing on conch shells and (this recruiting Edinburgh's conch shell to show us how it is done.  Tessa is very quick on dealing with unexpected ad libs (required with little uns in the audience) in sum its nicely interactive and rattles along.  So that happy kids and mums leave entranced with the prospect of a life of happy tap dancing as a mermaid!  (a enigma only revealed by a clever plot twist at the end I will not reveal)

Other pieces of shoreline ephemera are shared out in the audience and we enter into a "hunt the puppet" with lots of gusto and laughter.   A dementing adult (Marina's auntie) - is the fly in the ointment to Marina's ambition but Moon comes to the rescue.  

The audience consisted of Mums with children of 5-7 and also three babies perched on the lecture hall auditorium writing desks.   The show is 45 minutes long and they were rapt with attention all through.  It is a simple set and would work well in villages advertised for pre- school and early years children in primary.

The adventures of Marina Skippett can now be had in book form too...it arrived that very afternoon as a new publication

The Tap Dancing Mermaid can be seen on Carn to Cove www.carntocove.co.uk in Spring 2016

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