Al teatro dell'Oratorio - La Luna e il Topolino

Bright sunshine. Mean wind. White horses.

Yesterday, Mama and the Sprogs made good use of their Immaculate Conception holiday, not to go Christmas shopping like many, but to pay a visit to the Teatro dell'Oratorio attached to the church of San Giovanni Bosco in Minusio, Locarno. Here, we were treated to La Luna e il Topolino (The Mouse and the Moon), presented by the compagnia i Tiriteri, all the way from Florence, part of the 'Mini Spettacoli' series. 

A hit from the outset. First of all there was the theatre. With tippy-up seats. (If any one of my friends from the acting profession can tell me if they have a specific name, I'd be grateful.) Yes. Tippy-up seats. With tippy-up seats you can bounce - boing, boing, boing. You can crash - eeeek, thud, eeeek, thud, eeeek, thud. And you can squirm underneath to visit your friends in the row in front, possibly as a hungry crocodile - squiggle, scomp, squiggle, scomp. 

Then, of course, there was the darkness as the lights went down, and my strapping 6-year-old not-scared-of-anything boy can pretend terror and jump into his Mama's arms for a good, long, warm, Jo Malone-scented cuddle. 

Then came the story - a tale of a mouse's quest for a taste of the cheesy moon. Perfectly pitched for 3-7-year-olds. Bright colours, lots of funny faces, pretend stupidity, repetition, suspense and fun music that we could all clap and sing along to (listen on YouTube by clicking here).

"That man's mad," commented AJ between screams of laughter. "I want that mouse," added B (4) when she could catch her breath from bouncing with glee and shouting "formaggio!". They were riveted. Their cheeks shone with pleasure. They learned the chorus of the song in the click of a finger (would that homework were so easy), and they followed every word of the Italian.

And guess what? So did Mama!