2015YOULOOK_PFAs the performance begins with half the cast missing, something is clearly wrong in the zoo. Harriet Kemsley has fun with frivolous puppetry, switching between characters with ease. Despite her relentless cheer, there is an anxious undercurrent: a tiger seeing revenge. An uplifting tale of the trials and tribulations of zoo life, You Look Tasty! (A Play By A. Tiger) is a comfortably happy piece of theatre that, whilst perhaps isn’t utterly captivating, is good enough for a mid-morning show.

The play shifts into a high-speed motor chase as the zoo crew, with vengeful tiger in tow, make their way on an improvised road trip to the Edinburgh Fringe. Tasty creates a happy atmosphere within the space they have been given to perform. One particular highlight is when Kemsley attempts to fit an adult into a child-size cage, the children watching with scornful disparagement. The appearance of the nervous, armless Mickey is wonderful. Twitching with apprehension about his imminent death, he simulates a delicious guitar solo that leaves a blonde six-year-old gazing in wonderment.

The play takes an alarming turn as Sue, our faithful storyteller, breaks our trust and hearts as she tries to sacrifice an unsuspecting cherub, plucked fresh from the audience, as “breakfast”. The plot twist is sneaky and suitably dramatic – Sue is not what she seems.

I can only imagine how tough a job it must be for one person to capture the attention of an audience that is primarily comprised of humans under four foot, but Kemsley manages it. The sticky children are engrossed in an adventure of revenge, trust and discreet animal rights activism – in fact it is the adults, smiling and giggling, that seem to miss the finer subtleties of the piece.

You Look Tasty! (A Play by A. Tiger) is playing from 19-24 and 26-31 August as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. For more information, visit the Edinburgh Fringe website.