The majority of my performing experience comes from being a children’s entertainment in a local youth group. I would deliver stories, plays, games and songs all with the intention of ensuring the kids have a fun experience and want to come back next time. There was one experience at this organisation where I was incredibly stressed about things going on at home, issues appearing at the club and the highly complex production I had planned but the moment I took to the stage I had to forget everything that was going on get into the mind of my character for that performance. Thinking about it now it is this idea that has helped me to transition into teaching as you must leave everything that is going on with other classes, at home, in meetings etc at the classroom door. Anyone who has ever worked in children’s entertainment will know that there comes a point in the process, just before the lights go up where you have to mentally switch between you was a normal person and another over-the-top persona you have to put on for children’s TV. The Tiger Face show demonstrates that switch throughout going back-and-forth between the show’s host, who is extremely charismatic, energetic and bubbly, to the person behind the make-up, who is very quickly spiralling into some sort of depressive episode. The personas are switched constantly due to the fact that the sole character has dreamt about having their own show (and being a tiger) for many years but this is quickly ripped from him as the show is taken off air. In the other direction when we spend too much time seeing our character, being depressed and sad and upset it is the familiar Tiger Face Theme tune that brings him out of those episodes and transforms him back into the bubbly character we would expect from a children’s TV host.
What I think is particularly clever about this production is the fact that from the very first moment you step inside the auditorium you know the place takes place within a children’s TV show. Before Tiger Face has stepped out and explained what was going on we saw a collection of hand-painted props and jungle sets which created that young vibe to the show. When we do eventually meet the host, he graced the stage in a tiger indie complete with orange and black face paint as if he himself is an actual tiger. We learn throughout the show that this is in fact a character he plays in a TV show but being a tiger was a dream he had from a very young age. There is a section in the show where Tiger Face makes a conscious effort to help someone else in the audience to have their dream come true. At the production, I attend a lucky audience member called Roe was chosen and they wanted to be a volcanologist so Tiger Face and his team got them dressed up complete with jars, binoculars and a massive backpack as they threw fire-coloured tissue paper and rocks at the audience member to represent the conditions being in a volcano. One of the most impressive sequences in the show saw Tiger Face grab the crocodile puppet as he starts delivering a powerful duet even though both voices were in fact Justin’s. He was able to flawlessly switch between his own voice and the puppet voice with ease while singing which is an incredibly difficult thing to do. At one point Tiger Face was even climbing onto to a slide while delivering the two distinct voices which is absolutely mind-blowing! One of the through lines of the entire show saw Tiger’s face getting ready for an upcoming party but in one of his depressive episodes he had caused issues for all of his jungle friends. The closing moments of the show saw Tiger Face re-ignite his passion for the party and began encouraging the audience to inflate the imaginary balloons hidden under their seats but as soon as everyone had finished a cascade of balloons flew over the audience towards the TV host on the stage! The host also had a key audience member to mine creating a unique yellow jelly when suddenly the member conjured an actual prop that was brought onto the stage. This helped to make the one-man show into a more immersive experience for the audience which made the audience even more excited and engaged!
On the other end of the spectrum, we see Tiger Face having to deal with the fact that his show has in fact been cancelled which begins his depressive spiral. This is absolutely a show for a mature audience (despite the childish scenery, puppets, tiger onesie etc) as it continues strong language throughout. One of the most powerful scenes throughout the whole production sees Tiger Face deliver a passionate monologue about the external factors that are out of our control that stop us from achieving our dreams. The performer was clearly pouring their all into the impassioned speech as he was visibly very close to tears. Throughout the performance, we see a collection of darker moments that portray the more real aspects of the host. The story shared between Tiger Face and crocodile during the aforementioned impressive climbing sequence is about Chester the cheery monkey who is locked in a cage and eventually rips off his owner’s face once they are finally reunited. I do have to say that there was one point in the show where Tiger Face begins brandishing a gun which then accidentally triggers killed the parrot sitting in one of the hand-painted trees. While the theatrics of the bird falling from the tree and a splattered parrot being brought back onto to the stage were flawlessly performed, I do think that this scene was a particularly dark moment in the show that could have done with some sort of trigger warning.
Overall, The Tiger Face show is a production that explores the duality of children’s TV while also highlighting the serious effects of mental health. In terms of casting, Justin is the perfect person to spearhead this production as he is able to flawlessly switch between the over-the-top persona to the extremely relatable man behind the face paint which makes this complex portrayal easy for the audience to understand when the switch has happened. The upbeat moments of the show are crammed full over exciting theatrics and upbeat antics where as the darker moments are powerful and make sense to the character. I would rate this production 4.5 stars out of 5!
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