Midnight Mole review – puppet’s cheery takeover of Chekhov’s garden

The Egg theatre, Bath
Set in the cherry orchard that Madame Ranevsky is preparing to leave, this story leads its young audience on a tactile adventure underground

Our host is making a list and checking it twice. Father Christmas, you presume? Not at all. Madame Ranevsky greets the young audience for this show which plucks its landscape, and borrows some of the spirit, from The Cherry Orchard.

It’s not exactly Chekhov for preschoolers. Instead, the story springs from the estate owner’s reluctance to abandon her beloved garden. Her bags are packed and the train’s whistle can be heard but she decides to have one last play with its creatures, including a chipper velvety mole with pink spectacles.