Review: The Koala Who Could at Northern Stage

“…a must-see if you have young children, or just really like koalas…”

The Koala Who Could by Rachel Bright & Jim Field, Northern Stage

By Melina Turner-Deeks

This production of The Koala Who Could is a much-needed burst of Aussie sun and warmth to spice up a drab February half term.

Originally a well-known children’s book by Rachel Bright, who has a knack for bouncy, well paced rhyme schemes and loveable animals who always overcome the obstacles in their metaphorical paths. The stage adaption by Emma Earle and Eamonn O’Dwyer is fantastic and allows room for both fans of the book and newbies alike – so don’t let it stop you if you’ve never heard of Kevin the Koala!

The Northern Stage theatre was fully accommodating, with a lovely café serving up all sorts of kid-focused, koala-themed fun for before or after the performance including koala colouring, koala merch and a live koala-cam from Edinburgh zoo. After a warm greeting, the excellent staff signposted me to exactly where I needed to be (no mean feat in a sea of excitable, koala-crazed small children).

The highlight of the show was its pure vibrancy; from the pre-show music (where Men at Work almost immediately whisked me off to ‘A land down under’), to the lively set and colourful lighting, the punchy songs that seasoned the performance, and most importantly the seemingly unending enthusiasm of all three cast members. The production was perfectly paced and managed to stretch the picture-book-length story into a fulfilling 55-minute stage performance that moved swiftly enough to hold the attention of my 2-year-old throughout, while also keeping the adults in the audience fully entertained.

The cast of three were outstanding in their ability to fill the stage, each playing multiple roles with the help of puppets, elaborate hats and clever accents (Welsh wombat or Scottish Echidna anyone?). The performance was not narrated, but escorted along by three explorers (Danny Hendrix, Sarah Palmer and Christopher Finn) who were adventuring in the outback looking for wildlife. Only being a small team of three did not impede the show, as demonstrated by the impressive ‘Bush rush hour’ scene, which saw the three actors cleverly populate the stage with a staggering variety of outback creatures in an enchantingly stylistic way.

The puppets were a thing of joy for myself and pure magic for the children. The fateful woodpecker (no spoilers here!) was wonderfully mesmerising as it flew across the stage, operated seamlessly by Sarah Palmer. But the unrivalled puppet-star of the show was undoubtedly cute Kevin the Koala (Christopher Finn) who was charming and funny as he demonstrated all the ways in which he could cling onto his eucalyptus tree and guided us through his leaf collection. Sometimes puppets can be oddly unnerving, but this one perfectly reflected the heartwarming illustrations of Jim Field. Kevin is also portrayed life-size by Finn in some scenes, which adds a certain brevity and humanity (quite literally) to the character as he faces the challenges of confronting change. The cast managed to home in on Kevin’s reluctance to leave his tree and the emotions that come with this by playing with ideas of size and scale in a way that seemed completely natural and, despite using varying sizes of prop, this never felt forced or jarring but gave the situation more humanity and empathy.

All in all, a wonderful, bustling performance that captivated adults and children alike with incredible visual aspects, captivating set design (Oli Townsend), toe-tapping tunes (Eamonn O’Dwyer) and exceptional puppetry (Finn, Palmer and Hendrix) all set to the delightfully positive tale and words of Rachel Bright’s family favourite. A must-see if you have young children, or just really like koalas.

The Koala Who Could plays at Northern Stage until 02 March. Tickets are available here.

Melina Turner-Deeks is a poet and self-confessed literature nerd. She currently runs literary workshops and bookclubs in North Tyneside as The Literature Lass. When she is not baking, parenting or reading, she loves being outdoors and connecting with nature. Find her on Instagram here or Facebook here.