Fluff: A Story of Lost Toys: Show Review by Jamie Levine
When I took my seven-year-old daughter, Jayda, to the The New Victory Theater this past weekend to “see a show about lost toys,” I didn’t warn her that we would be viewing a theatrical company hailing from Brisbane, Australia, in what was being marketed as a “quirky mix of sound, story and film,” that had been praised as “an off-the-wall, one-of-a-kind performance.” It certainly was.
Fluff: A Story of Lost Toys introduced us to the Ginghams, a trio — aptly clothed in gingham — who travel all around the world to discover and recover long-lost misfit toys and bring them into their colorful home to care for them. First, each toy is introduced physically to the audience, then on a screen in a hilarious photographic homage to its life and how it came to be misplaced (in one instance, from being flattened after falling out a car window to another — being left behind after being tossed around a field like a football). Then each beloved object is given a sound avatar to identify it (cleverly created by performers Christine Johnston, Lisa O’Neill, and Peter Nelson through unique vocalizations, amusing birdcalls, electronic sound-sampling, and other methods), and is placed in a comfortable little bed. Finally, each toy is given a name — from Scary Cheeks and Disco Frog to Flatsy and Humpty Hot Pants — and begged by the plad-clad family to go to sleep. But the audience soon discovers it isn’t that easy to get ten lost toys to bed! As lights flash and noises blare, the audience helps the Ginghams guess which toys have woken up, and laughs as they go through outrageous antics to get them back to sleep.
It’s difficult to describe Fluff as a performance, except to say there’s nothing like it! It’s an offbeat, interactive (audience participation is encouraged, as a cast member turns her microphone into the audience several times), colorful, comedic, highly original, multimedia show.
Running time: 50 minutes, no intermission. Recommended for everyone ages five and older.
General Ticket Information
Tickets for FLUFF: A STORY OF LOST TOYS at The New Victory Theater (209 West 42nd Street) are $25, $18, $12 and $9 for Members based on seat locations, with full price tickets starting at $14.
Purchase tickets online or by phone at 646-223-3010 The NEW VICTORY Theater box office (209 West 42nd Street) is open Sunday and Monday from 11am-5pm and Tuesday through Saturday from 12pm-7pm. For more information, visit the NEW VICTORY website
