The Tiger Lillies, Phelim McDermott, Julian Crouch
Good kid’s Picture Book
Junk-opera
Whatever the world-famous Tiger Lillies band touches, it will be unique, it will be bizarre, it will go beyond the limits. Heinrich Hoffman’s 19th-century fairy tale book, Shockheaded Peter, was set to music by the same token. Then from this Phelim Mcdermott and Julian Crouch turned it into a grotesque, blackly humorous horror variety show.
Finally, the junk opera called “Jógyerekekek képeskönyve” and its Hungarian transcription was created by the linguistic playfulness and irony of Lajos Parti Nagy. The outcome of these is a world with: live, scratchy music, grotesque characters and visuals, plenty of irony and humour from the shaky ground of child-rearing. But no matter how hard this ground moves or shakes, we will certainly not fall down, because we are devotedly looked after by a ‘professor of pedagogy’. This obsessive, extremist professor is trying to beat his credo into our heads through the example of several children. This is the overriding principle of education, or ‘cure’; that the belt – regardless of how hard we try – cannot be used too often, or even often enough. What should we do in this miserable world? How should we educate? Should we educate at all? And can it be spoiled? And if so, what can we do?
We don’t recommend this performance for people under the age of 16.
