Diary of an Action Man – a review
Children's Express reporters were among the first in London to see the stage play Diary of an Action Man when it opened at Stratford Circus in East London in February.
| It talked about real life problems, like growing up without a dad or living with a disability |
If you were unlucky enough to miss it then, don’t panic, after a successful tour of the UK, it’s on its way back to London and you can see it at the Lilian Baylis Theatre in Islington from April 2nd to the 6th.
We don’t want to ruin it for those who haven’t seen it yet it but it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t at least tell you a little bit about Diary of an Action Man.
The story is based on a boy called Ezra, a very funny character who lives with his Mum and sister, Louise, who has a disability, which means she uses a wheelchair.
Ezra has a really wild imagination and spends his whole time locked away in his bedroom playing games with his action man doll, which he calls “dad”.
Ezra’s father left the family when he was very small, so he doesn’t remember much about him. But Ezra talks to “dad” all the time and together they spend hours running away from imaginary enemies and fighting make-believe battles.
The Diary of an Action Man was very different to any other play we’ve seen because it talked about real life problems that some children face, like growing up without a dad or living with a disability, as Louise did.
We really liked it that the actors managed to mix such important issues in with so many laughs.
What also made the play different was that all the actors used sign language. We thought it was good that they’d made a play, which took into consideration that there might be deaf children in the audience.
It is aimed at children between the ages of 7 and 11 but we think it’s more suited for children 9 years and up because you need a certain awareness of family based problems to be able to understand the story line.
The theatre was packed when we saw Diary of an Action Man and it seemed like everyone enjoyed it as much as we did. We’re sure you will too!
About the team
This story was produced by Nivine Arafa 9, Ellen Bean 11, Mariya Bheekhun 11. It was published in London's City and Islington News.
