Review: Tidy

Families in the audience delight in spotting familiar visual motifs from the book: Pete’s beloved bins appear, alongside his proudly badger-painted vacuum cleaner.

Pete himself is a marvel of theatrical invention. He is portrayed through a seamless interplay of performance styles: actor Owen Alun embodies him with warmth and nuance; at other moments, Pete appears as an exquisitely detailed puppet; and in scenes emphasising the overwhelming scale of his ambitions, including mountains of bin bags teetering precariously high, he is reduced to a tiny miniature puppet. This inventive shifting between forms not only dazzles the eye but deepens our understanding of Pete’s character. We see his kindness, his compulsion, his comfort in routine and ultimately, his vulnerability.

The dynamic between the woodland friends sparkles with energy. Rabbit, played by Elin Phillips, is the perfect counterpoint to Pete’s rigidity. Where he sees mess, she sees possibility. Leaves become confetti; puddles become playgrounds. Phillips radiates a contagious exuberance, her expressive performance rekindling a sense of childlike wonder, reminding us of the joy found in muddy hands and wind-tousled ears.

Fox, portrayed by Carwyn Jones, injects the production with irrepressible musical verve. His guitar work ranges from gentle accompaniment to rousing, rock-infused crescendos, and at one point hilariously spurs Pete on with thunderous riffs as the badger zealously attempts to “improve” the forest by sawing down trees. The humour is sharp, but it carries an undercurrent of unease. Through Fox’s music, we feel both the thrill and the danger of unchecked momentum.

Indeed, the live score is central to the show’s emotional power. When Pete and Rabbit dig into the earth, the music rumbles and pulses, making the ground seem to tremble beneath our feet.

The set design further enhances this sense of a living ecosystem. The stage is alive with changing weather patterns; puppet hedgehogs, fish and owls emerge, and leaves and blossoms cascade down in flurries.

For all its environmental messaging, Tidy never forgets to entertain.

Slapstick moments abound: Pete’s head wedged stubbornly in a mud-filled bucket, the gleeful consumption of wriggling worms, the escalating absurdity of overzealous cleaning. Laughter ripples through the auditorium, ensuring the story’s moral never feels too heavy-handed.

Ultimately, this production strikes a careful balance between whimsy and warning. It invites us to reflect on the beauty of imperfection and the value of letting nature — and ourselves — be a little wild. Thoughtful, inventive and brimming with heart, Tidy proves that sometimes the m ost beautiful things grow when we loosen our grip and let the world breathe.

Tidy performed at Lakeside Arts on the 28th of February and 1st of March 2026.