Benjamin & Me celebrates childhood’s leaps of imagination, big dreams and fond attachments. Part of the AWESOME Festival, children are treated to 50 minutes of storytelling through dialogue (with special voices for each part), songs and flip chart drawings.
The story of young Will Flanigan and his best friend and family pet dog, Benjamin, starts by introducing the villain of the piece – Splinter McGee. Splinter is an old man with a disagreeable voice to match his disagreeable habits. A stealer of ideas, Splinter has been following the Flanigan family for many years, finding that the best inventors cluster together. Will and Benjamin have thought up and constructed a remarkable device – a boy-dog operated flying machine. Splinter is determined to steal the ideas from Will’s head but Benjamin foils him, allowing the heroes to make their escape. Adventures ensue, as events unfold and family history is revealed at a rapid pace. Flying through the air in a huge aeroplane, being attacked by a giant mechanical claw, falling in love, discovering secrets and learning about grief – there is never a dull moment in this tale of friendship and invention.
Mark Storen is the writer and director, performing solo in his version of the boy-dog operated flying machine, a contraption that looks inspired by long afternoons playing in interesting sheds. The assemblage includes bicycle handles, some wind up handles, strings of lights, a big fan and a chair, a magnet for any curious child even without the clever use of smoke machine to emphasise narrative developments. Stage manager Meabh Walton takes a more active role than usual, smiling encouragement to Storen at key points and deftly moving between the hand drawn images of visual artist Jacinta Larcombe. The use of the large paper pages on the flip board may be more familiar to parents than to their children but the clear depictions of various characters in vibrantly colourful, quirky stylised fashion appeals to all.
Accompanied by his ukulele throughout, Storen punctuates his narrative with distinctly different voices that accentuate the qualities of each character. His songs further enhance character development both by exploring emotional range and employing a variety of musical styles. While individual songs are unlikely to be timeless hits, the reactions of small children to the celebration of creepy nastiness of Splinter McGee suggest that they are working in this context.
A lovely addition to AWESOME Festival, celebrating friendship, creativity and adventure, Benjamin & Me brings smiles to faces young and old.
Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5
Benjamin & Me
Presented by Whiskey + Boots and The Blue Room Theatre
Writer and Director: Mark Storen
Illustrator: Jacinta Larcombe
Producer: Georgia King
Stage Manager: Meabh Walton
Performed by Mark Storen
Part of the AWESOME International Arts Festival for Bright Young Things
The Blue Room Theatre, Perth Cultural Centre
6-24 October 2015
