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Don't Eat Little Charlie |
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While Western Europe may increasingly seem a unified body in many ways, 'Don't Eat Little Charlie' reminds us that different traditions of storytelling and making theatre for young people continue to influence the work of writers and practitioners. Modern technology and contemporary positive attitudes towards investigating and respecting cultures have made it possible to share these traditions, draw on them in the creation of new works and use them as a frame for interpreting a wider range of experiences and insights. There is an alternative to the blandness which all too often accompanies commercial globalisation that is alive and well in young people's theatre; the fantastical narrative and sparkling use of language of 'Don't Eat Little Charlie' are testimony to that. If 'Don't Eat Little Charlie' seems a little 'off the wall' on first reading that may be because, in Britain, it represents a theatrical tradition that is very different from young people's theatre that is either overtly issue-based or unashamedly geared towards light entertainment. The linguistic fireworks and imaginative imagery of 'Don't Eat Little Charlie' suggest immediately that metaphor and symbol are root and branch of the play. In turn, this should suggest that the best way to appreciate it is to bring it to life: see what it looks like and listen to what it sounds like. While this type of theatre is relatively uncommon in Britain, its close relations in other fields are well known. The magic realism of Michael Ende's books, 'The Never Ending Story', for example, has been popularised on film, and one can surely detect the same tradition at work in much of Roald Dahl's work for children. Recognising the tradition that can be traced back to the founder of German Romanticism, Novalis, that 'Don't Eat Little Charlie' is informed by and develops, makes the play a fascinating piece to study in the upper secondary years. It is an example of a particular genre in its own right and certainly an example of how the conventions of theatre may be stretched. Moreover, the play offers younger students of drama a fantasmagorical play beyond the boundaries of naturalism and the chance to discover just how versatile an art form drama is. Activities devised by Joella Cooper and Emma Wilson, with Andy Kempe. 
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