Bubble Show: Milkshake and the Winter Bubble

Fringe favourites, The Bubble Laboratory (aka Iulia Birze and Kurt Murray) are back once again to entertain children of all ages with their bubble skill, puppetry and clowning.  Best known to young audiences as Milkshake and Doctor Bubble, this year Birze and Murray bring us an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl. It’s a fairy tale with moments of much sadness but delivered here with great pathos. It’s refreshing to see a children’s production that is not entirely sugar-coated.

It’s a story within a story as Doctor Bubble reads Milkshake a bed time story that comes to life. Incorporating beautifully crafted puppets, and of course bubbles, the pair bring the story to life in a world of bubble feasts, baubles, stars and jewels. Language is no barrier to the accessibility of the show as the story is acted out with almost no dialogue.

Milkshake is a most affable and humorous character, one that the children immediately feel at ease with. However, the children are equally enthralled by Dr Bubble’s incredible bubble blowing skill, even if he is a little more serious.

The children quickly feel comfortable enough to become engaged with the action and there is plenty of opportunity for participation, from bubble popping, to bubble blowing and even an opportunity for each child to inhabit their own bubble. The finale is an extravaganza of bubbles as far as the eye can see.

This is a carefully, and cleverly, thought out adaptation of a children’s classic.  If you’re already a fan of Milkshake and Dr Bubble you won’t be disappointed by this offering. If you’ve never seen a Bubble Laboratory show, Milkshake and the Winter Bubble is sure to make you a fan.

Jenny Fewster

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