Jina and the Stem Sisters – Little Angel Theatre and Touring

Picture: Clive Barda

Jina and the Stem Sisters continues at the Little Angel Theatre, London until 1 May 2022 as part of a tour presented by HMDT Music.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

I first saw and reviewed this show a year ago, one of the very few I agreed to critique digitally. It’s interesting, therefore, to see it live now.

Rachel Barnett-Jones’ story gives us a little girl (pretty, earnest, feisty puppet) who wants to be a scientist. Lost in a wood she meets a series of inspiring female scientists from the past, each of whom gives her a gift – in the manner of the fairies at Sleeping Beauty’s Christening.

Thus, by the end, she is ready to embark on her career armed with curiosity, persistence, creativity, courage and open-mindedness. And we’ve enjoyed some sparky songs.

The Marie Curie song – a delightful G&S-type patter song in minor key – remains my favourite although I also liked Ada Lovelace’s rap which includes the words: “I’m a mathematician, a woman with a mission.”

Each song composed by Jenny Gould is in keeping with the period of its singer: 18th century opera for Caroline Herschel, and a filmic, showbiz number for Hedy Lamarr, for example.

Andrea Sadler and Ruth Calkin work together with impeccable smoothness in moving and voicing a whole cast of puppets. And their neat costumes – olive green blouses, brown butcher boy hats, amber crops, red socks and amber shoes – look very attractive.

The songs and their accompaniments are recorded. Of course in an ideal world, with a much bigger budget, they’d be performed live but doing it this way is a practical solution.

It’s good to see the set properly (design is by Sophia Lovell Smith) – it got rather lost in the streamed version. Four trees with nooks, crannies, shelves and hooks sit downstage in front of a starry backdrop and a big sun/moon. It’s all very brightly lit and colourful except for the Marie Curie sequence. She has a ghostly glow and explains why.

I saw Clare Whistler’s production sat alongside 58 year three children and their teachers from a primary school in Plaistow. Its purpose is, obviously, to show children like these some history of science and to help them to realise that women can be scientists too. It certainly does that. It’s entertaining and fun too.

Susan Elkin