The Dustman

REVIEWS

‘When the sun has got its timing spot-on for the holiday weekend, it's tempting to think outdoors, but this afternoon show, by Lyngo Theatre, is well worth an hour of family time.

Aimed at the over fives, it's an eccentric wander through the place where dreams come from a place on the other side of the mirror where the Dust Man sources all the topsy-turvy, back-to-front and inside-out ideas that make perfect sense when we're asleep. To begin with Dusty (Patrick Lynch) appears affably shambolic: but his tricksy routine with a picture frame - it's an invisible window in an invisible wall - leads his giggling audience into understanding that his dream world is on the "other side" of ours. Best of all, in a kind of Alice Through the Looking Glass moment, he invites a little girl to climb through his frame and into his make-believe.

Thereafter Lynch whisks us into an increasingly surreal, poetic realm where phones ring at awkward times - it's his boss checking up on him - clocks always strike nine, and the night shift means the Dust Man watching us nodding off. There's a genuine understanding, in this inventive collaboration between Lynch and his Italian associates, of children's night-fears as well as their ability to send imagination into total, rewarding freefall. The visual imagery - magical special effects, deft puppetry - is beautifully contrived while the lively music and Lynch's flair for clowning with an air of mystery in it, make for an intriguing, even reassuring, dreamtime that's also a celebration of theatre itself.’ The Glasgow Herald

COMMENTS

‘We thought the show was very good. We enjoyed it lots and thought it was well done.’

‘Most enjoyable.’

‘Loved it – ingenious and very entertaining – even for the adults.’