How To Catch A Star

How To Catch A Star. Image, Anita Murphy

*****

Before CGI and digital animation there was puppetry. A staple on TV screens for adults and children alike. Thunderbirds, The Muppets, Bosco, Sesame Street, Spitting Image; puppetry was everywhere. Nowadays it’s harder to find, like a shooting star. So when it crosses your sky you should do everything in your power to witness its wonder. Like Branar’s delightful forty-five minutes, How To Catch A Star. A puppet show, without words, based on a story by award-winning Irish author Oliver Jeffers. In which a small boy in a red and white striped jumper looks through a telescope at the stars. Sat on the roof of his house beneath twinkling constellations, one night he discovers a star different from all the others. And so begins a warm, beguiling tale, so good you’ll want to see it twice.

The blurb says it’s about following your dreams and finding a friend. And it is. But How To Catch A Star is so much more. Its compact tale a masterclass in storytelling and characterisation. Puppetry by Neasa Ní Chuanaigh & Cillian O Donnachadha, with puppets by Suse Reibisch, articulating the warmth, joy and laughter of a boy seeking a friendly connection through meticiously realised behaviours. His frustration at rockets that won’t fly, or administering CPR, or mirroring movements, along with the panic of an anxious worm and the rudeness of an aggressive seagull, delighting with playful mischief. Maeve Clancy’s interconnected three part set - an ingeniously crafted house, a single tree field and a wooden pier - illuminated magnificently by Ciaran Kelly. Whose night sky peppered with stars, or dawn bright days, brim with hints of magic. How To Catch A Star conjuring real magic, evident in the spontaneous outbursts from its audience, young and old, as they piece the story together. The young mesmerised by the magic of the impossible, the older mesmerised by the magic of what’s possible. Colm Mac Con Iomaire’s evocative score, cradled in the sound of scratchy vinyl, another magical link across the generational divide.

How To Catch A Star. Image, Anita Murphy

There’s a reason puppetry has endured from even before the 1600s, when Punch and Judy shows first appeared. When puppetry is this good, it’s irresistible, speaking to something fundamental in how we engage, connect and tell stories. Directed by Marc Mac Lochlainn, How To Catch A Star sees life, theatre and storytelling pared back to their life loving basics. A modern fable that tells its story without speaking, How To Catch A Star is perfect for the Christmas season, and for any season. Do not miss it. An utterly, charmingly, gorgeously enjoyable experience.

How To Catch A Star, presented by Branar, based on a story by Oliver Jeffers, runs at The Ark until December 30.

For more in formation, visit The Ark