THE NIGHTINGALE by The Little Company

“The Nightingale’s Silence is Golden“

Reviewer: Lee Shu Yu 
Performance: 13 March 2018

Many expect children’s theatre to be bigger, louder and bolder in order to capture the hearts of their young audiences. The Nightingale by The Little Company does this brilliantly. Just as the bird’s failure to sing proves to be a pivotal turning point in the play, this production can afford to use silence to add texture to the performance.

Otherwise, it can descend into a mere shouting match.

Back by popular demand, The Nightingale is a colourful and flamboyant treat based on the fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen. The original story is of an Emperor’s friendship with a Nightingale, whom he replaces with a mechanical replica.

Written by Mike Kenny for its first run in 2014, The Nightingale foregrounds the Emperor’s naïve materialism and selfish oppression as he tries to domesticate Nightingale. The moral lessons are clear, which makes this production educational and worth catching.

The Emperor (played by Leslie Tay) is trapped in the Forbidden City, visibly indicated by the set: walls of the palace folding and encaging him in transitions. Most striking is Erwin Shah Ismail’s character, The Protector, who, with his great energy and deliberate melodrama, slaloms entertainingly from the strict Protector to a comic care-taker frightened of the outside world.

Embellishing characters with these traits and idiosyncrasies delights the young audience. They are often tickled by the expressive gestures and physical comedy of the strong cast, from the wide-eyed fearful contortions of The Protector, to the playfulness of the Emperor.

However, the highlight of The Nightingale is a short but stunning shadow-play sequence. Characters flow in and out from behind a screen, depicting The Protector’s encounters outside the Forbidden City. The haunting shadows punctuate the otherwise boisterous play, and the audience is silent, spell-bound.

The most captivating moments, it seems, need not be the loudest.

In contrast, an attempt at a rock number grate and overwhelm, although one hip-hop number manages to incite lively dancing from the audience. Natalie Yeap’s Kitchenmaid also cuts through the richness with her refreshing and steady vocals.

Sitting amidst the young audience who is unabashedly engaged and excited, this reviewer witnessed the joys and difficulties of staging a children’s play. It is undeniable that story-telling liberates curiosity and imagination, no matter the age.

Whilst bigger is often better when it comes to children’s shows, perhaps more children’s players ought not underestimate the power of the stage and their target audience, lest they trade the real essence for the fancy flourishings of just another mechanical replica.