Like many of us, when he was a little boy, Mark Pencak was scared of the dark. In Monsters in My Wardrobe Pencak travels back to a time when he was eight years-old and revisits all the scary possibilities that hide in the bedroom at night.
Using a mix of puppetry, physical comedy and book-ending his story with verse Pencak tells the tale of a single night when goaded by his sister and supported by his brother, he must tackle the darkness alone. With his trusty knapsack of favourite things (a common accessory for little kids) Pencak plucks up his courage and battles not only the monsters in his wardrobe but his own demons as well.
It is refreshing to see shows like Monsters in My Wardrobe and artists like Mark Pencak. Often comedy shows for kids are simply adult material knocked down to a G-rating without an appreciation for the fact that kids aren’t just miniature adults -they often have a different way of looking at life and different appreciation of performance. And that’s exactly where Pencak has succeeded; he has crafted a show that taps into the psyche of a young kid.
The show features a range of puppets, smelly socks and balloon aliens. The star of the set is the versatile wardrobe that opens up, splits in half and hides magical worlds with creative lighting and miniature Mark puppets.
This is a super show for the under eights. Next to me sat a four year-old who was utterly transfixed throughout. It is indeed a rare talent that can keep an audience of pre-school kids engaged for an entire hour.
My two six year-olds loved it:
Jasper (6): I liked how he was afraid of stuff that won’t harm you. My favourite puppet was the caterpillar because it looked really funny. In the wardrobe I just liked how he could pull the wardrobe apart and come out the other side and open it up. It’s the best sort of show for kids with imaginations and creative minds.
Iris (6): I loved it! It was funny and cool how he used all balloons and puppets. Every bit of when he was in the wardrobe was my favourite bit. When he said the thing about the asteroids, it was really good. At the end he gave me a flower thing made of 12 balloons.
For show times and tickets visit the Melbourne Comedy Festival website