Hugh Homan
Not very much happens during the 50 minutes of this play for children aged two to six - two OAPs plant a turnip seed, an enormous vegetable grows, apparently overnight, and it takes the aforementioned crinklies, a dog, a cat and a mouse (for economic reasons the original granddaughter is presumably in Siberia or somewhere) and the whole of the audience to extract this gargantuan root from the soil.
But what an enchanting hour we share in the company of Marc Parrett and Niki McCretton, who play Raymond and Dottie Chickweed. It’s all very gentle, an enormously welcome relief from all those manic kids’ shows on TV. And Edwina Bridgeman’s simple set - a shed, a tree, a lantern, a kind of auricula theatre for the vegetable plot and a washing line on which hang three pairs of brightly coloured socks - provides everything necessary for our disbelief to be suspended.
There are songs, a gentle guitar strumming in the background, two very likeable performances from our nearly-retired couple and the enormous turnip proves very impressive indeed. Exeunt several dozen delighted children, their parents and one critic.