The Marvellous and Unlikely Fete of Little Upper Downing – review

Marvellous, unlikely – and you might well add preposterous and charming to the list for this family show created by one of theatre's most cherishable young companies, Little Bulb. Hambledon Village Hall may not quite have the glamour of the West End, but you wouldn't know it from the care lavished on show and audience in this dotty Romeo and Juliet-style entertainment about two warring villages "both alike in industry". The residents of the weaving villages of Little and Upper Downing hate each others' guts and believe that all those living in the other village are monsters. Cue jokes about "from forth the fatal looms of these two foes" and "star-crossed stitches". Nobody has crossed the field that separates them, "the Great Divide", for generations. But when Derek Badger from Little Downing and Chris Roaring from Upper Downing get lost in the fog one night, the folk band The Roaring Badgers is founded. Can the Badgers bring the two villages together over a jar of homemade jam at a joint village fete? This is a comedy, not a Shakespearean tragedy. While the show may feature custard pies, deadly rock cakes, funny walks and even funnier accents, this is an evening whose deceptive simplicity belies cunning stagecraft and a great shove-it-in-the-back-of-a-van design. An all-singing, all-playing cast work their socks off, display genuine musicianship and invest every single second with total sincerity. As a result, its silliness becomes rather touching, and there is never any doubt that this is not a send-up of village life, but a genuine celebration. It's a little show with a lot of heart and a reminder that rural touring can offer quality work and crucial opportunities for young companies on the rise.