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Flat Stanley
adapted by Mike Kenny
Directed by Matt Aston
Lakeside Arts Centre
Christmas 2009

Stanley Lambchop was a normal healthy boy until a notice board fell on him!

Now he's only half an inch thick ...

Stanley makes the best of his altered state, and soon he is entering locked rooms by sliding under doors,
and playing with his younger brother by turning himself into a kite.

Stanley even helps catch some art thieves by posing as a painting on the wall.

But one special advantage is that Flat Stanley can now visit his friends by being posted in an envelope.

Join Stanley and his brother Arthur on their adventures at Christmas time.

'Flat Stanley' (Lakeside Arts Centre) - click for more info

Nottingham Evening Post

LAKESIDE is carving out a reputation for family shows that prove there's life beyond panto at Christmas.

Following last year's The Happy Prince and the 2007 production of We're Going On a Bear Hunt,
the theatre again turns to a classic children's book for inspiration.

This time it's Flat Stanley. Lakeside's sixth Christmas show, based on the 1964 book by Jeff Brown,
is possibly the most fun yet.

The tale of Stanley Lambchop, the boy who's four feet tall but only half-an-inch thick, makes for a
colourful and exuberant show.

Our two-dimensional hero – flattened in his bed by a falling board – is brought to life by an engaging
performance from Richard Dale in a "flat suit".

Stanley discovers it's not all bad being flat – he can slide under doors, makes a great kite and can even
post himself to California for a holiday.

His adventures are wittily realised thanks to a colourful set, light-projections and Julian Butler's
infectious score.

The story is easy to follow for pre-schoolers but catchy songs and wry humour will hold the attention
of older children, too.

Flat Stanley is an inspired choice for a festive family show. Keep it up, Lakeside, you've become as
much a Christmas fixture as any panto.

[thisisnottingham.co.uk]

The Stage

Small children love the adventures of Stanley Lambchop, the boy who got flattened by a bulletin board in
his sleep and ended up just half an inch thick. Mike Kenny’s adaptation sets the story in its 1964 context
and makes it big, zany and very ‘American Dream’, with a frilly housewife frying eggs and asking:
“Sunny side up, dear?”

It’s almost cartoonish at times, on a simple and colourful set, and with the story threads brought together
in song and dance. Richard Dale rises to the considerable challenges of playing Stanley, limited largely to
sideways and backwards movement in his strapped-on cardboard Stanley. Projected images and other
devices are cunningly blended where the character needs to slip down a grating or under a door.

The four actors play everything from a lisping gallery curator to a careless doctor and a pair of cops
straight out of Top Cat. It’s very jolly, particularly the scene in the portrait gallery where Stanley poses
as a shepherdess and foils the dastardly robber. But the production also brings out the jealousy and
isolation of Stanley’s brother Arthur, hunched in his dungarees and crying: “It’s not fair.” All is resolved
in a fun finale.

[Pat Ashworth]