I was suddenly reminded of a show I saw at Edinburgh Fringe the other day when I was clearing out my desk drawers. I found objects I haven't seen for ten years- finger puppets, a book of upside-down faces, a colourful sleepover invitation from an old friend...nostalgia hit me very hard.
I nearly cried in this show, Colour me happy, as it too, appealed to the childhoods of girls of my age group in an incredibly surreal and beautiful way. From the moment The Spicegirls was played on a tape-player on stage, a whirlwind of memory rocked all my senses. For an hour, three girls played on stage in an experimental theatre production using bubble-wrap, a blue puffa jacket, blow up chairs, The Spicegirls, dressing up, jelly shoes, diaries, whiteboards, crayons, and even the shoe box underwater set everyone made at primary school. They might as well have raided my attic, they even had the same duvet cover I used to!
I think the show was so successful not only because of the genuine old school props, but the incredibly creative way they used them all; dancing, acting, exploring, miming, imagining, and puppetry. And because it was so relatable, the audience was absolutely sharing their journey of discovery back into our childhoods. And although they were just moving from one memory to another with no breaks and no going off stage, they kept the show rooted by repeating one scene. They would turn a giant board around that revealed The Spicegirls but fill the face spaces with their own and mime an interview.
They were group 13. Here is their website and the image on their flyer, which I also love. Their facebook group is also worth a look because they have some great videos of experimentation to create the show.
I'll be watching their movements carefully...
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