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Dr Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown and His Singing Tiger
Published on Monday, 06 August 2012
5

5 stars

Assembly George Square (venue website)
Childrens
2-12, 14-19, 21-26 Aug, 12:45pm-1:35pm
Reviewed by Lynne Morris

 Family-friendly. Suitable for all ages.
 Free and unticketed. No pre-booking required.

Fifty minutes fly by as Dr Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown and His Singing Tiger draw on many theatrical sources to tell the story of a day in the life of the eponymous Dr Brown. An otherwise normal day becomes an absurd musical journey, as the tiger turns each moment into a conversation guided by the strumming of his ukulele.

The show conjures bellows and delighted howls from a packed tent of both adults and children alike. As the roars of laughter bounce around the space, the producers and performers can be safe in the knowledge that they’ve achieved exactly what they set out to do - that tricky task of simultaneously entertaining children and those hard-to-please grown-ups.

Thriving on the energy of their audience, the duo lure people onto the stage at various points, with hilarious consequences. They seem especially delighted by the moments in which the unpredictability of a tent full of fired-up children takes over. At one point the small army of under-tens decide to sail the show themselves, temporarily redirecting its course. Unfazed, the singing tiger and the loveably ridiculous giant child Dr Brown expertly guide proceedings back to their intended position.

The humour centres around observations of the everyday, exaggerated for the benefit of the young audience. While silly, they retain sufficient adult and knowing humour to entertain the seated auditorium, with the biggest laughs coming from the moments that hold universal appeal: comic reminders of the things that often go wrong and the things that we secretly enjoy going a little awry.

Two small children chased me out of the venue into the delightful courtyard space within George Square, having been nudged by parents who had clearly spotted my press pass. Beaming and breathless, they exclaimed their delight and how much they wanted to see it again; the show had worked its magic. If you’re looking for a reason to take your children to a show this year, then here it is. You and your offspring will find this one equally entertaining, albeit for slightly different reasons.

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FROM OUR ARCHIVES

These are archived reviews of shows from Edinburgh 2012.  We keep our archives online as a courtesy to performers, and for readers who'd like to research previous years' reviews.

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Dr Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown and His Singing Tiger