Enveloppes et Deballage
Cottage Theatre

Velot Theatre consists of director Tania Castaing and actor Charlot Lemoine and between them they construct tales of whimsy and imagination. In Enveloppes et Deballages- wrappings and unwrappings- they create what they call a `theatre of objects.’

Lemoine is a dreamy postman with a bicycle loaded with parcels. Amidst a hubbub of bird twitterings, cat yowls and what have you, he discovers smoke coming from a huge cardboard container. When he opens it he reveals a jungle landscape complete with puffing volcano. In amongst the paper mache undergrowth he finds rubber frogs, mechanical birds, a dragon with eyes that glow in the dark and a remote-controlled jeep full of explorers in pith helmets.

Velo use a wacky array of kitsch toys and gizmos- and a heap of undelivered mail- to tell a tall tale of a bird and a dragon who leave the jungle, cross a sea of blue cellophane and end up in a circus. This is the wonderfully daggy theatre of anti-illusion. Velo are fresh and inventive- and, while they sound like kids’ stuff, it’s all part and parcel of the fun.

Murray Bramwell

“Velo is French for a bundle of fun .”
Four stars.

The Advertiser, February 28, 1992.