Learn 'Penguin' in ingenious family show

REVIEW: The Man Who Wanted to be a Penguin

“Ugguda-H-Aaw-H-Aaw!” exclaims the Man to a confused penguin. Amused, the penguin chortles at the Man’s attempt at speaking Penguin and corrects him in-between fits of laughter. Desperately trying to relate to the Antarctic penguin, the Man betters his pronunciation and declares, “I am a penguin!” in Penguin speak.

Family show The Man Who Wanted to be a Penguin by Stuff and Nonsense Theatre encourages people to embrace their inner explorer as the Man embarks on an expedition to the Antarctic. A devised theatre production, the success of the performance relies heavily on the dynamic between the two actors, Loretta Hope and Johnny Hoskins. 

Warm and full of energy, Hope and Hoskins melodramatic energy engages well with audience members, particularly with young children. Timid at first, the children become increasingly invested as Hope and Hoskins encourage them to participate. 

By the time Hoskin’s character, the Man, escapes the confines of his mundane neighbourhood to find solace amongst the Antarctic penguins, the children are unabashed.

An eccentric inventor, the Man, played by Hoskins, fiddles with household objects to invent functioning gadgets. His neighbours, increasingly bothered by his loud inventing, chastise him for his odd contraptions and behaviour. 

A cosy home, his shed is accommodate many entrances, exits and windows that allow for many comedic moments. In one such moment, the Man excitedly hands out various birthday invitations from the Shed’s many openings to Hope’s determined deliveryman. It’s an ingenious, comedic spectacle as both the audience and the deliveryman are left impatient at the Man’s next letter reveal.

Invigorated by his new plan, the Man finds a cassette recorder on ‘How to Speak Penguin’ and undergoes a crash course in it. With the help of Hope’s deliveryman, the Man adopts a lecturing stance and manner and proceeds to teach the audience Penguin speak. As with any beginner learning a foreign language, the Man asks the audience to repeat the words he pronounces. Beginning lightly, the Man teaches audience members the word Hockulagogg for ‘egg’ and enunciates the word slowly so that the correct pronunciation is uttered back by participating audience members. Satisfied with the audience’s progress, the man teaches the audience slightly more difficult words such as H-L-K-D-Aaa for ‘fish’, and most importantly, Ugguda-H-Aaw-H-Aaw for ‘I am a penguin’. 

After his adventure in Antarctica, the Man returns to his Shed and hometown more confident and reassured. Picking up his inventing tools, the Man starts planning his next adventure with renewed vigour. 

The Man, unwavering in his sense of self and sheer determination, reminds audience members to be unrelenting in their ambitions and perceptions of self. Being unsure and unsteady at times is frightening, but the Man provides audience members with a comforting thought: life is a journey to discover one’s purpose in it. Sometimes, it requires an adventure to the artic tundra to find it.

The Man Who Wanted to be a Penguin by Stuff and Nonsense Theatre Company, directed by Niki McCretton is at Theatre Royal Plymouth until January 22, 2022.