2nd June 2016
Running Wild - The Regent's Park Open Air is a spectacular outdoor performance space and this show was perfect for the leafy setting... Great Story and amazing puppets... unfortunately, not so great humans!
Now that War Horse has been packed off to the knacker’s yard, in London at least, it’s high time that some of Michael Morpurgo’s other works got their time in the sun.
Regent’s Park Open Air is the perfect space for Morpurgo's 2009 novel Running Wild. It's a production with twice the heart, three times the guts and none of the schmaltz of his multimillion WH... This show holds no punches. Running Wild had beautiful production, minimal set design and enchanting music from start to end. The skill and artistry of the large scale puppets was breathtaking... in many scenes, they were better than the human cast.
The story of a young child - Will is cast adrift in the Indonesian rain forest with only a flatulent elephant Oona for company, Running Wild spends its first act in a joyous celebration of the natural world... Then, things get darker and reality kicks in. It's a story that touches on everything that we should be talking about right now... De-forestation, Palm-Oil production and the issue of indigenous People and animals of our fragile rain forests.
Now that War Horse has been packed off to the knacker’s yard, in London at least, it’s high time that some of Michael Morpurgo’s other works got their time in the sun.
Regent’s Park Open Air is the perfect space for Morpurgo's 2009 novel Running Wild. It's a production with twice the heart, three times the guts and none of the schmaltz of his multimillion WH... This show holds no punches. Running Wild had beautiful production, minimal set design and enchanting music from start to end. The skill and artistry of the large scale puppets was breathtaking... in many scenes, they were better than the human cast.
8 out of 10.
