St Mark’s Art Space

Aug 8,10,12 

Script:  Stagecraft:   Performance: 

This is what the festival is all about, I believe. The Walford Wayfarers are an international wonder, a blend of 12 Australians & 12 Taiwanese (& one Italian), all shepherded by Australian composer, singer, artist, writer and educator Judith Clingan. Edinburgh is the first port of call on a European adventure which will see them perform the Little Prince in places such as Aberdeen, Iceland & Switzerland.

Based upon the 1943 novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the Little Prince is a curious tale of an otherworldy being & a crash-landed aviator, & their quest to find a certain rose. En route they meet explorers & scientists & connect with what it is really like to be alive. A wonderful allegorical tale, the Wayfarers bring it to life with music & costumes, while watching the Little Prince himself, young Sigmund Nock, convinces me of how the Elizabethans enjoyed boy-actors so much — he was a marvel to watch. St Mark’s is a great space for a show such as this; the series of summery songs which came from the Wayfarers filling the room like pleasant-wafting incense. The action was also 4-dimensional, with birds on sticks being flown around us about the pews… I found the entire production of this Little Prince a joy to witness.

Reviewer : Damian Beeson Bullen