My 6 year old daughter was excited to be going to the new children’s show BOING! at Saddlers Wells on the last day of the school term. As we sat and waited for the show to start, the audience, comprising mostly of young children took a while to quieten as the anticipation grew. A large bed covered in childlike scribbles inviting them to jump on it.
Out came Joêl Daniel and Wilkie Branson of street dance company Champloo who choreograph and star in the show. The pair play young brothers eagerly awaiting Santa on Christmas Eve. Reminding themselves that “If you want Santa to come, you must go to sleep” the two brothers constantly fail in their attempts to do just that.
The show starts with Branson and Daniel, dressed in pyjamas also covered in a childlike scribble, brushing their teeth with a comedy gurgle. The children in the audience were amused from the beginning and the show kept their attention for the entire 50 minutes.
The pair really got into the imagination of young children and we were taken along on a ride with them through joint games and brotherly scraps. Joêl’s highly expressive face showed off perfectly the range of emotions from disappointment as he found nothing in his stocking, to the joy of playing a trick on Wilkie.
My daughter was amazed at the comedy timings of their choregraphed dance fight. The bed was used to great advantage in their scuffles, enabling Joêl to outmanoeuvre his brother. We both agreed the highlight of the show was when the pair emerged from under the bed as robots, the lights dimmed and we were treated to a whirling acrobatic light show.
Nicola Thompson
