Monski Mouse’s Baby Cabaret: Singing Up A Nursery Rhyme Storm ~ Adelaide Fringe 2024 Review

[KIDS AND FAMILY/Music ~ SA] Monski Mouse's Baby Cabaret, Spiegel Zelt, GOUD, Sat 17 Feb, 2024. This opening show of the season saw Monski perform her well-travelled baby cabaret with a new cast, joined by sidekicks, Johnno and Yulia. The trio present what has previously been the work of a five piece and manage to keep the energy high while finding their groove together. It’s a jolly sing along of souped-up nursery rhymes, mashed-in classics and a measure of satire for the parents The venue caters for the demographic with indoor pram parking and cosy informal seating on the floor amongst pillows and rugs, which allows little groovers and parents alike to shake their sillies out. Cooling just managed to keep the space comfortable on a hot afternoon. Throwing yourself to a target audience of 0-5 is a bold move and you’re never going to win everyone over. The 2-4s seemed most enthusiastic and those with confidence found their space to jump around front and centre, while the sub 2s appeared less responsive. It took a bit to warm up the crowd and perhaps the show could benefit from more low-level audience engagement targeted at the children to start off with. Yes, it’s a tough audience, but a lot of parents were putting in the hard work of geeing their kids up to try and relay the energy coming from the stage which didn’t seem to animate the little ones as much as it could. Some kids took it and ran with it, but parents, be prepared to row your boat and get your tea pot on! Occasional props do help with this as Yulia sails birds and fish through the crowd but there’s still a bit more needed to really draw the children into Monski’s magical world, despite the musical talent and energetic presence of the trio. It's great that shows like this provide the next generation with a gentle and welcoming introduction to music and theatre, but sans lights and guitar there’s not a whole lot that you and the kids wouldn’t get from baby time at your local library. 3 stars Joti Weijers-Coghlan Monski Mouse's Baby Cabaret continues at Spiegel Zelt at The Garden of Unearthly Delights from 4pm until Sun 17 Mar. Book at FringeTIX and adelaidefringe.com.au. Click HERE to purchase your tickets. #ClotheslineMag #ADLfringe