CHILDREN’S THEATRE
Created and performed by Monica Warren (Coach Mon)
At Ivanhoe Library Theatre until 12 Oct 20205
Melbourne Fringe Festival
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars: 31/2
This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly on 3MBS on Sat 4 Oct 2025. KH
 |
| The Comedy Games with Coach Mon - image by Darren Gill |
Coach Mon (Monica Warren) is a child whisperer. Her crowd control of kids 3 or 4+ is exceptional in Comedy Games. She is warm and funny and authoritative as she coaches her audience through a series of mad, pseudo-athletic games and her solo show is entertaining, educative, physical, musical and gently but cleverly participatory.
Children’s theatre cannot be judged on the same criteria as adult theatre. (I worked in shows for children and the under 5s are like aliens. It’s almost impossible to predict what they'll find funny or what will bore them.) Keeping them interested is half or more of the task, Coach Mon does it with alacrity.
When Mon’s athletes don’t arrive on stage to the welcoming cheers of the children, she wants to give up, but the children encourage her to carry on without her “invisible” athletes. The brainwave is to use the kids as the athletes.
She coaches the crowd wacky Olympic feats such as eyebrow push-ups, tiny weight-lifts, hurdle (“churdles’ in this show), slow-motion running and sychronised swimming with two dads, which was hilarious!
Her modes of controlling behaviour were myriad: “Blink six times. Pay attention!” “Show me with your arms and body, not with your mouth.” Genius teaching tricks!
Interestingly, it was almost all girls who volunteers to go on stage. One boy went up and did something completely different from the instruction, another ran, looked around then ran back distressed, a third only went up when he heard that he’d get a gold medal. I couldn’t work out why it was the boys who resisted.
There are few flat spots in this performance and Coach Mon is a treat to watch and she guides her mini athletes through their Comedy Games. If you and your kids miss this season, hunt for Coach Mon online.
by Kate Herbert
Cast
Monica Warren
Director
Laura Aldous
No comments:
Post a Comment