Reviewed by Amy Endacott

Boing!, devised by companies Travelling Light and Champloo Dance, is a piece of theatre which invited you to relive the excitement and anxieties of one of the most treasured childhood memories: Christmas Eve. The forty-minute piece spanned the tense twelve hours before Christmas morning and showed us all the ways two brothers try to pass the time.

Performed on a simple set of just a bedframe and mattress, Boing! transported the audience into the colourful imagination of the child whilst asking them to use their own creativity to explore more than just the minimalist set. The brothersÔÇÖ interaction was charming to watch, at points quite comical. The relationship was characterized by striking choreography, which saw the brothers move wonderfully in sync but also colliding and disputing their differences.

The playÔÇÖs two actors performed with passion; diverse and enthusiastic, they added life to a basic storyline while performing the interwoven dance beautifully. The structure of the play was simple and, at times repetitive, but considering the young audience age it served to strengthen the key concepts of the narrative. There was very little dialogue in the play, but ┬áthe success of the performance served as a testament to the great physicalities of it; the movement and imaginative use of a few props easily kept both adults and children engrossed throughout.

Perhaps the most stunning part of the performance was the ending, which saw the motif of a feather reappear; hundreds of feathers were dropped onto the two boys sleeping in bed. A simple symbol for the luxury that Christmas brings, it also reminded the audience that there is much more sentiment in sharing moments with our loved ones than in the bottom of a tinsel-covered gift bag.