I went to see Tink at The Other Palace on Thursday 10th October 2024.
Tink is a one woman play performed by Kat Kleve and written by Kat herself along with Lizzy Connolly. It’s the classic Tinkerbell character we all know and love but she is living in the present navigating growing up in society.
Being a huge Tinkerbell fan I was super interested when this was announced to be performing in London. I always think it’s a hard ask to perform a solo show and with your own material as well is a very valuable thing to do as an actor but arguably no one will know the material better.
Firstly I have to praise Kat herself she gave her all in the performance, not a single mistake or pause throughout the whole performance. In some of the later songs she really got to show her vocal ability and emotional acting. She used the space very cleverly to show her emotions and energy levels between ages, this was also helped by the lighting dimming at intimate moments.
The costuming also deserves praise, though very simple, the small changes between scenes really helped to portray her age. Didn’t we all wear a tube skirt to a party in year 11?! As a Disney fan I liked that they kept it green, true tinker fairy colours.
I thought it was a little slow to start, and I didn’t enjoy the first song as much. It differed from the other songs being soft and meaningful this one felt a little thrown together. I like the idea of the song that it’s from an innocent childs mind with her life ahead of her but it didn’t quite fit with the rest of the songs. That being said I did enjoy the reprise which was sung acapella, being more soft made it more enjoyable.
Adult actors playing the roles of young children is something I struggle with, I find it’s often tedious. Despite Kat doing it very well I wasn’t too big of a fan. I also don’t think the first couple of scenes added much to the storyline. The story really came to life in her teens when we all know life gets a little tougher.
Overall I loved the show, such a cute production that reminds us life has its ups and downs but we should always be ourselves, reach out for help when we need and true friends will always be there. That and teenagers are the worst!
You can catch the show at the studio in The Other Palace until 20th October.