Toys by Toys Theater, Jan 10, 2005

Toys  by Toys Theater   

produced by xeAxe International

Deaflympics Cultural Festival

 BMW Edge Theatre, Federation Square  Jan 10 to 14, 2005

Reviewer: Kate Herbert

Toys Theater,  Russian theatre for the Deaf, is part of the Deaflympics Cultural Festival.

Toys is a children's performance with four charming physical performers, all of whom are Deaf.

The show is a series of vignettes with actors playing a mechanical toy, each uncannily accurate in its mechanical movements.

The Toy-Dwarf (Alexander Filimonov OK) is a quirky, clown character who controls the other toys with his remote control and teases the audience.

Filimonov has a mischievous glint in the eye and a dexterity of movement as this cheeky character. Toy-Dwarf is dressed as a brass band leader wearing gold epaulets and a wind up mechanism implanted in his back.

Loudmila Romanovskaya (OK) is the pretty, girlish dancing Doll, the childlike love interest for the male toys.

The chubby Toy-Cook (Vassily Solonitsky OK) is a charmingly petulant chef who stamps his feet and plays like a child. His cheeky seduction scene with female audience members is very cute.

Toy-Boy (Ilya Goltsov OK) is a romantic spiv who believes in his own charms and uses them on the Doll. Goltsov is an adroit mime artist who prances, dances and romances as Toy-Boy.

There are many highlights in the seven scenes. Toy Dwarf manipulating the other toys movements with his remote control is a demonstration of their great mimetic prowess in mechanical movement.

The road trip sees Toy-Boy and Doll driving their mime car on a comically dangerous trip.

But it is the mini tennis match between Toy-Boy and Toy-Cook that takes the prize. Toy-Boy, using his boater hat as a raquet, plays a challenging tennis match against Toy-Cook who bats the ball back with his frying pan. Doll controls the huge ball on the end of a stick in classic clown style. It is hilarious.

Apart from the skill and humour of the actors, the experience of being a Hearing person in a predominantly Deaf audience was extraordinary. I have never seen signed applause - a room full of silent people with raised hands and wiggling fingers.

Toys is accessible to all ages, Deaf or Hearing. It is cheerful and a reminder of all those favourite game and stories from childhood.

LOOK FOR:  Other Deaflympics shows: Heads Up (Australia) Jan 12 and 15; Mosaic (USA) Rainman (Canada)  and Contraposition, (India) all Jan 10-15

By Kate Herbert