Box Tale Soup with their signature suitcases, bits of text printed on their costumes and, of course their puppets, have a very strong identity – there is no mistaking one of the productions. Another identifying aspect is that their work is based on adaptations of existing stories – currently Manalive, previously Casting the Runes and Northanger Abbey. I think it is a good strategy. If you are performing experimental, or at least unorthodox work, it is good to have a firm, established foundation on which to work. It is also exciting to find, emphasise and present aspects of familiar fiction which have perhaps gone undetected, to re-interpret them.

Manalive is a great choice for a stage adaptation. G.K. Chesterton’s 1912 story explores a recognizable and oft repeated theme, that of an innocent abroad, the wise fool – a simplistic vision of society where good and innocence triumph. If only. This is familiar territory that has been explored by Dostoevsky in The Idiot, Cervantes with Don Quixote, Raymond Queneau in The Flight of Icarus, Being There by Jerzy Kosinski, Kasper Hauser et al. Through their unique and/or eccentric viewpoint these innocent-savants make us see the world differently and bring us enlightenment.

There are very surrealist undertones to Manalive, as there are to the other stories mentioned. It (they) explores chance meetings, changing perceptions, diverse interpretation etc. Those themes, as well as the myriad characters living in Beacon House, a London boarding-house cum old peoples’ home cum lunatic asylum, give an imaginative dramatist an awful lot to get his or her teeth into.

Antonia Christophers and Noel Byrne, who make up Box Tale Soup, have made a fairly decent fist of it. The characters were mostly portrayed by puppets/ventriloquist dummies with the main protagonist, Innocent Smith, being an impressive walking, talking, life-size living doll. Ms Christophers and Mr Byrne are a personable and likeable pair and on the whole Manalive was successful and the ingredients were all there. However, I think there were a couple of issues.

I think the presentation was rather monotonous, it lacked any real drama or light and shade. It was too much on one level with lots of opportunities for innovation and excitement missed. This also applied to the puppets themselves. They were a bit bland and samey. I think they could each have been given much stronger identities and personalities. They very much fall into the Muppets and Avenue Q category and a lot could be learned from those. The good thing about puppets is that because they are just bits of wood and cloth you can make anything you want from them. The bad thing about puppets is that because they are just bits of wood and cloth, without imagination, that’s what they remain.

I am a great believer that innovative drama and that small, independent companies should be encouraged. They are not constrained by the commercial aspects of main-house shows and the stage is their oyster. Box Tale Soup is certainly one of the better, more original companies out there but I think they should perhaps let themselves go a little. For all their clever, original ideas they come across as rather staid, too clean. With the material and opportunities they have they could be truly outstanding. More oomph, more risk-taking, that’s what’s needed.   ★★★☆☆     Michael Hasted     29/01/15