Reviewed by Kate O'Sullivan
Edutainment. Noun. Entertainment with an educational aspect. This is the perfect genre for the new educational musical currently being performed by Bright Side Productions, Filter Fun Park. With a cast of 6 adults and 6 children, be ready to learn some things but to well and truly be entertained along the way.
The set is minimal, with two pop-up tents (as seen in the image below), but serviceable. They certainly didn't detract from the performance, and there was good use of the levels the audience was sitting on to keep things interesting. The music is catchy, and the songs are short enough to keep the littlest members of the audience engaged the whole way through.
There isn't a weak link in the cast. With Brian Brain (Jake Tolich), Heather Heart (Ruby Voss), Stanley Stomach (Ethan Churchill), Maisel Mouth (Nicole George) and the Kidney Twins (Grace Whitney and Ethan Battle), we get high-energy, pun-filled representations of the human body, all of whom throw the audiences attention around and keep us on the rollercoaster that is the show. When you add in 6 junior cast members as both well-behaved and every-teacher's-nightmare foodstuffs, the fun doesn't stop. The kids have been well-drilled and they don't miss a comedic beat either. Well done.
As with many an outdoor production, there are some microphone issues and some external sounds that interrupt proceedings (shout-out to the lungs on that toddler), but they are handled well by the cast and crew. It's also always a risk to have to call on the audience for moments, but there were well-planned backstops in case the audience didn't want to volunteer themselves, which were well used by the cast.
The audience was engaged the whole way through, no mean feat with some very smalls on a hot day. My only recommendation, other than to get down and see it? Don't forget the sunblock - the 10 am sun has a kick to it. But that shouldn't keep you away from the Filter Fun Park - a winner this Fringe World season.
Reviewer note: Kate has previously worked on shows with the composer (Ashlee Clapp) and Nicole George. Tickets for this review were provided by the theatre company.
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