Tutti Fruitti Productions specialise in bringing fantastic, distinctive and carefully crafted shows to children ages 3+. We were invited to watch ‘Yellow is the Colour of Sunshine’; an endearing new play about two friends who learn to how communicate their feelings, written by Brendan Murray.
I had heard good things about Tutti Fruitti Productions but had never seen one of their shows, so I was very intrigued and excited to watch ‘Yellow is the Colour of Sunshine’, and hoped Emily would be too. We walked into Seven Arts Theatre five minutes before the show started, and the characters were already dotting in and out of the audience, making themselves familiar with the crowd. Then, right on time, everything went black, the show began; and we were thrown into the wonder of Magpies, kites, and two friends called Hani and Yoshi.
The hour long show integrated spoken word, British Sign Language (BSL) and dance to communicate it’s story, with only three cast members taking centre stage; Hani (who used spoken word); Yoshi (who used BSL) and Magpie/Kite (who used dance). The juxtaposition of sound and sign really made for innovative story-telling, captivating the audience, and keeping them engaged as they began to understand what was taking place in front of them.
The clever use of props, colour, music and movement all helped to further embrace the feelings felt every step of the way, with the two main characters expressing happiness, sadness, anger, being scared and excited; leaving us with a truly heart-felt story about friendship and feelings. The use of repetition through the magpie rhyme ‘One for Sorrow, Two for Joy…’ also helped to bring the story back to its centre, creating a familiar hook for the children to engage with.
Emily was transfixed! I’ve never seen her sit still for so long; she was completely involved in the show, letting out vocal cues during key moments; saying ‘Oh no!’ ‘Who dat?’ and giggling or crying out when things were developing. In fact, the whole audience was very engaged; not a single fidget in sight! A real rarity with a younger audience.
At the end the cast spoke to the audience and explained how Yoshi was using BSL to communicate. We then got to learn a few signs from the show ‘Magpie’ ‘Friend’ and ‘Thank you’. And we were lucky enough to meet and greet the cast to thank them for such a wonderful performance.
Tutti Fruitti’s mission ‘to delight children with imaginative, visual and meaningful story-based theatre’ was certainly achieved through ‘Yellow is the Colour of Sunshine’. Every minute detail was carefully thought out creating a wonderous piece of story-telling that I for one will remember for years to come.
‘Yellow is the Colour of Sunshine’ is currently on tour until Saturday 13th July 2019, and is designed for children aged 3+ and their families.
To get in touch, call +44 (0)113 388 0027 or for more information visit their Website or Facebook page.
Tutti Fruitti Productions, Shine, Harehills Road, Leeds LS8 5HS
Cast: Connor Bryson, Phoebe Stapleton, Holy Irving. Director: Wendy Harris. Designer: Kate Bunce. Movement Director: Holly Irving. Composer: Christella Litras. Lighting Designer: Sara Burns.
*Mumbler was not paid for this review but we did receive complimentary tickets to the show. All of the comments in this review are our open and honest opinion. Details correct at time of publishing; June 2019.
