26 September – 6 October
A great strength of Toby Thompson’s infectious approach to story-telling is his refusal to be tied down to the boringly factual. He knows that a child’s unfettered imagination is a very precious thing so he is drawn to narratives that have an elusive, ambiguous quality, leaving young listeners free to interpret them in their own individual ways. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince is one such tale, being a multi-layered fable with much to offer the imagination of any child or receptive adult. This condensed adaptation retains the strangeness and enchantment of the original.
The story is narrated by a pilot, stranded in the Sahara after a crash and in urgent need of rescue. He tells of how the Little Prince travels from asteroid B612 in search of new friendship. On his journey from planet to planet he encounters a variety of characters, including a deluded king who has no subjects but who believes he is in control of the entire universe, a drunkard who drinks to forget the shame of drinking, and a conceited individual concerned only with self and selfies. Finally, the Little Prince lands in the Sahara Desert where he meets the pilot himself. Using only minimal costume changes – a paper crown for the king, a green scarf for the prince – Thompson vividly brings these characters to life. He is a dynamic performer, moving freely around the stage and occasionally accompanying himself on the piano. The shifting moods of his tale are underpinned by the subtly interwoven lighting and sound design, and there is clever use of back-projected video.
Thompson is a gently amusing performer, skilled at engaging the attention of a young audience by tapping into their capacity for wonder. Thus he reveals that in the visible universe ‘there are more stars than there have ever been human heartbeats.’ It is clear he identifies more with a child’s view of the world than an adult’s. In a digression from the central narrative he offers an important guideline on how to gain an adult’s interest: don’t talk about how you feel about a new friend; just give boring information such as the friend’s height because grown-ups like numbers.
One of Saint-Exupéry’s main themes is that we have become too obsessed with what can be measured, and we pay too little attention to what can only be felt within. He wrote, ‘It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.’ It is a thought that clearly appeals to the poet in Thompson.
★★★★☆ Mike Whitton, 3 October 2024
Photo credit: Camilla Adams
