“There’s somebody at the door. Oh, there’s somebody at the door.”

Rod Hull and Emu’s excited refrain when visitors rang the sneezing doorbell of their welcoming Pink Windmill. And the catalyst to Sam’s awfully big adventure with a slightly annoying elephant whose unexpected arrival upturns her cosy little world of cookie-munching and cartoon-watching with a never-ending list of increasingly taxing demands.

From cooking and showering to cycling and jumbo-sizing – a form of exercise with more ear-flapping than a Prince Charles lookalike competition!

The execution of which, together with comical reenactments of key events in their shared past (including how she unwittingly agreed to adopt him from a wily zookeeper) form the bones of director Samantha Lane’s touring adaptation of David Walliams’ illustrated children’s book for the Islington-based Little Angel Theatre who are one of only three building-based puppet theatres in England.

There’s no faulting the ability, commitment and energy of performers Heidi Goldsmith and Alex Bloomer who as the respective Sam and Elephant are quick to win over the target audience of 3 to 8 year-olds towards whom the show is perfectly pitched.

Tour director Maia Kirkman-Richards’ life-size blue puppet is as cute as it is expressive. And Tom Gray’s jazzy tunes are foot-tappingly enjoyable.

However, Ingrid Hu’s design – several flats depicting a bland domestic interior – is uninspiring and has an air of Crossroads about it. A flatness which extends to Samantha Lane’s adaptation whose repetitive structure and disappointing ending reduces the trunk-swirling musical from big African to small Indian lugs of enjoyment.

Peter Callaghan
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