The Journey Home review – a conservation fable for kids

Little Angel theatre, London
An inventive and earnest staging of Frann Preston-Gannon's book boasts beautiful puppets but goes adrift for some younger audience members

When and how should we start to talk to children about climate change? The Unicorn and Filskit theatre company's Breaking the Ice, for two-to-five-year-olds, gently presents the issue through the tale of a friendship between a husky and a polar bear - though only the oldest children would pick up its environmental message. The Little Angel's The Journey Home, adapted from Frann Preston-Gannon's book and directed by Steve Tiplady, explores the subject for a much broader age range (four to 11). The challenge is to ensure a show that's entertaining no matter how earnest its message, and that stimulates kids at both ends of that range.

Related: Breaking the Ice review - a frisky Arctic adventure for children