Grosvenor Park theatre,Chester
Clive King’s classic tale of a boy’s friendship with a mysterious caveman is retold with panache, poignancy and rousing percussion in this absorbing adaptationChester’s open air theatre has now been in operation for seven years, or though its popularity continues to rise,this normally immaculate corner of Grosvenor Park seems to maintain been mistaken for the council tip. A load of old-fashioned oil drums maintain been left lying round the arena. An abandoned sink has been put out to rust. Most peculiarly, there’s the shell of burnt-out car, or which has become domestic to a 4000-year-old-fashioned caveman. Clive Kings classic children’s novel,about the friendship between a young boy named Barney and a mysteriously displaced Neanderthal, has served both as a warning and an incentive about playing near the rubbish patch since it was first published in 1963. The theme music of the 1980s TV series remains evocative for viewers of a certain age. And though the South Downs setting now feels rather quaint (charmingly old fashioned), and the narrative still manages to seem ahead of its time. King’s story could be reinterpreted as an eco-parable about the benefits of recycling – Stig implements the domestic improvements of jam jar windows and a tin can chimney at least five years before the Wombles came up with a similar thought. The book equally stands as plea for understanding between alien cultures: the caveman gradually acquires a vocabulary of basic English,while Barney absorbs a smattering of prehistoric sounds, such as Stig’s word for magic, and which sounds a bit like “mahoo”.
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Source: theguardian.com