By Megan
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/10 £13
Available until: This show is on at
11am and 2pm most days until January 4th, but New Year’s Day only has a 2pm
show and 3rd January has an additional 5pm show.
Anxiety is a big problem for a lot of
people. It hasn’t always been an official medical diagnosis but it seems like
people have had anxiety all through history. But even now, not everyone
understands. A lot of people seem to think the person can snap out of it if
they try but it is not that easy.
Another problem with anxiety is that people think it shouldn’t be talked about. It is even harder to get over anxiety if you are ashamed of it too. Having anxiety does not make you a bad person or a weak person but some people do see it that way and that makes it harder for people to talk about it.
It is really sad but even small
children can get anxious about things. I think The Elf Who Was Scared of
Christmas is a really good idea because it talks a lot about fears in an
understanding and supportive way. Cupcake the elf is scared of Christmas and
her friend Figgy really wants to help. He gets it wrong sometimes. He has to be
very patient and he has to try lots of things. But he is a very kind elf.
Fears and phobias are really
complicated and it can take years to get better. Some people never do if the
don’t find the right person to help them or the right way of helping them. It’s
not as easy as it seems in this play (and it’s not easy in the play). But I
think it is a really good starting point for explaining about things like
anxiety and helping children to feel better about the anxiety they feel. I
think the fact Figgy is kind and patient with Cupcake is also really important and
the audience participation and the children in the video messages show that
children can help people too.
The show was written by Gina Beck and
Neil McDermott who also performed. It is a really good story and the writing is
really sensitive. The characters are both really good and it’s at a good level
for young children but I think older children and adults would get a lot from
the story too. I am ten so I might be an older child now.
Gina Beck plays the role of Cupcake
and she is really good. She shows Cupcake’s anxiety in a really convincing way
but she doesn’t make it look scary. She is a very nice elf and she also tries
to be brave and she is very honest about how she is feeling so I think she is a
very good role model. She also has a really beautiful voice and she seems to be
able to sing anything.
Neil McDermott plays Figgy. He is a
really kind elf who has lots of ideas and he never gets cross with Cupcake. He
is a good singer too and he is good at comedy. It is not a comedy play because
the subject is serious but lots of really serious or really sad plays have
comedy in and it can make the story even better.
At the end of the play, Cupcake and
Figgy sing lots of Christmas songs. It is after Christmas now but it still made
me feel Christmassy to listen to the songs and join in.
No comments:
Post a Comment