‘A one-woman present that’s pure magic’ – I Believe in Unicorns evaluation

Michael Morpurgo’s story is predicated on an precise occasion when a Russian man saved books from a burning library in the course of the warfare.

It has been tailored for the stage by Danyah Miller who tells the story of Tom, a younger boy who would not learn till launched to the magical properties of books.

On a stage piled excessive with books apparently rescued from the hearth, she engages along with her younger viewers from the very starting, opening books to disclose pop up characters and buildings – together with a whole village – in addition to unfolding pages to create screens for charming little movies.

Literally conjuring photographs out of the books themselves, she attracts us into the story that darkens when her village is burnt to the bottom and Tom and his father rescue as many books from the library as they will.

Assisted by sound results and lighting (the hearth is scarily reasonable), Miller delivers a one-woman present that’s pure storytelling, pure theatre and pure magic.

I Believe in Unicorns, Apollo Theatre till August 12, then UK Tour till October 20. Tickets: 0330 333 4809 (danyamillerstoryteller.co.uk)