The Smallest Person
Trestle Theatre Company at The Cut, Halesworth
Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 20 September 2004
The Smallest Person
An audience suspends disbelief and gasps as the skeleton of a nineteen and a half inch child moves in her glass case – tribute to the dark power of masks, music and puppets.
Trestle’s unique style grippingly serves this play about the death and burial versus dissection of Caroline Crachami in Georgian England. We are left uneasy at the treatment of the sick and deformed.
Masks limit expression, yet on the faces of the talented company, there is more emotion in a simple gesture or muted cry than would seem possible. The child is a tiny puppet operated by a performer in clear view – yet the pathos still says more than words.
Rich in humour, the piece is enthralling. King George IV is lampooned as gross in a pig mask. Yet his loneliness is apparent as his kiss reduces a child to tears.
The delightful ex-maltings are the perfect setting for an intimate mask company taking physical theatre to new heights.
