Just when you think you’ve seen everything in kids’ theatre, here comes a palaeontologist with his own five-piece backing band.
In fact Dr Jakob Vinther gives something more like an extended guest appearance in ‘The Colour of Dinosaurs’, which is directed by Dom Coyote – who also fronts the band – with music by Lloyd Coleman (also in the band) and text by Malaika Kegode (not in the band).
Songs and gentle audience interaction help sugar an introduction to Vinther’s studies, which in a nutshell come down to the fact that he’s managed to determine the actual colour of dinosaurs (well, one psittacosaurus) by observing the shape of its fossilised melanin cells (which hasn’t retained its colour per se but you can tell what colour it was from its shape).
Alongside that, there’s an agreeable, very Polka Theatre-ish thread about the band members discussing their own melanin levels - the word ‘race’ is absolutely never spoken, but it’s a nice, gentle way into describing why humans have different skin tones.
The band are on the whole seasoned performers – ie they can sing, they can act, they can play musical instruments – and while I probably wouldn’t say that about Vinther, he is very game, even doing a little dance at one point.
It’s a really interesting idea for a show and one I’d say doesn’t entirely work. The age advice is six to 12 and I think ‘The Colour of Dinosaurs’ has a little something for everyone without triangulating any particular age entirely convincingly: my youngest felt it was disappointingly light on actual dinosaurs (well, puppets or whatever), while my eldest felt it took took long to actually explain what Vinther’s theories actually are. I’m not normally one to listen to my children over anything, but I did take both of their points here – fundamentally I don’t think the songs are catchy enough to make the show in and of themselves. Still, if it’s imperfect it’s still a fresh idea - and you really will learn something.