Review by Hunter King
The Scottish Storytelling Centre
Belgium’s Theatre4mains has brought their show Cheeky Zippy Violette to the Scottish Storytelling Center. After her grandfather dies, Violette (Gwladys Lefeuvre) believes that he has moved to the moon, and through her imagination the audience is transported on an adventure to send him a letter.
Lefeuvre has a childlike whimsy that really connects to the children in the audience. While some performances that have been in Imaginate this week have been family shows, others have been quite specifically for the children, and Violette is one of the latter. While several jokes landed well among the adults of the audience, and I found myself laughing consistently through the show, the real connection was with the kids.
Lefeuvre truly transforms herself both physically and mentally into a child, and is willing to go to excessive lengths to get a rise out of the kids, especially when preparing food for her grandpa by chewing up and regurgitating a pickle into a bowl and having it transform into a cupcake when put into the oven.
The technical aspects of the show were simple but impressive, sometimes relying on incredibly specific timing to make jokes land, such as flipping a lightswitch that would “turn on” the house lights for Violette to break the fourth wall and talk directly to the kids of the audience. This was one of Lefeuvre’s strongest aspects of her performance. When she directly connected to the kids in the audience it made the room feel welcoming and exciting, something that is essential when welcoming children to one of their first experiences in live theatre.
On a deeper level, the show was able to talk about sensitive topics, like death and loss, in a way that felt fun, but still managed to be heavy hitting in the moments when it needed. Cheeky Zippy Violette was a fun show that managed to excite, disgust, and mostly entertain the children of Edinburgh. Whether she’s swimming with an octopus in the ocean, traversing through a jungle, or asking for a thousand pounds no less than 14 times, Lefeuvre is certain to entertain and empathise as Violette.
Whimsical Fun
Cheeky Zippy Violette ran at The Scottish Storytelling Centre as part of The Edinburgh International Children’s Festival
Running time: Sixty minutes without interval
Photo Credit – Ger Spendel
Review by Hunter King (contact@corrblimey.uk)
Hunter is a 2024 Master’s graduate of the University of Edinburgh and current doctoral candidate with a thesis focused on experimental theatre in Edinburgh. He has been a theatre practitioner for over a decade having worked in many capacities including as a director, actor, stage manager, front of house manager, and technician as well as others. Prior to moving to Edinburgh, Hunter was a high school English teacher in the United States. His passion for the written word as well as his passion for live performance are what motivated him to become a writer for this publication.
