Robert Tanitch reviews 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tipps at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London SE1
Emma Rice, artistic director of the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, made her name as a director and then artistic director of Kneehigh, Cornwall’s International Theatre and creator of theatre in pits, quarries, woods, industrial ruins and on cliff tops.
Rice now revives Kneehigh’s most recent production, which was originally seen in a tent and is an adaptation of a novel by Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo, famed author of War Horse, one of the best loved stories of World War 1.
946:The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tipps is a story of World War 2 and is set in 1944 in Devon during the rehearsal for the D Day landings in Normandy.
The stage is filled with sandbags and two aircraft propellers are tied to the Globe’s stage pillars.
946 refers to the number of men who drowned during a training exercise, a disaster which was hushed-up and not told until long after the war had finished. The disaster is recreated with washing tubs and toy boats.
Tipps is a cat which goes missing. He is played by a puppet. There is also an endearing puppet dog.
The appeal of the show, which is very family-orientated, is that all the children are played by adult actors.
If there is an award for best performance of a 12-year-old by an adult actor then Katy Owen is an obvious contender. Verbally and physically, Owen is extraordinarily convincing.
Her scenes with an evacuee (Adam Sopp, admirable), whose dad has been killed in North Africa, are a delight. Together they create a credible childlike world.
The story pays tribute to the American black GIs (represented by the lively Ncuti Catwa and Nandi Bhebhe) and their friendly relationship with a community who has never seen a black person before.
Cross-dressing is a feature of the production. Mike Shepherd, founder and former artistic director of Kneehigh, plays grandpa and grandma. The very funny Ewan Wardrop is hilariously tarty in full drag.
946:The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tipps, following its run at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, which ends on 11 September, will be touring the UK and USA. Take the family.
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