Jungle of Emotions: Liverpool Improvisation Festival – Unity Theatre

Day three of the festival opens with a child friendly episode presented by Peng! Impro, where this improv company aims to help young people to be able to express emotions through laughter.  There are opportunities for interaction, so the children feel as though they are collaborating in the telling of the story.

In the jungle, this German improv company attempt to re-create the sounds and feel of the jungle by asking the audience for ideas of an animal, and something that the animal can do in its spare time.  The suggestions were a monkey, and the monkey’s interest was to philosophize!   Mary Gerald (the monkey now has a name), is starting a new life a university in a few weeks’ time, but she doesn’t know what to study, her short list consists of philosophy, and engineering, maybe she can do both…  While Mary packed for her new adventure, she met her new friend Jess the moth who is studying textile engineering, being super interested in cloth. 

Have you ever seen a tree that was so wide, that it took fifty minutes to walk around the whole tree?  Well, a cartwheeling bat has, and later on that day we are introduced to the interesting crossbreed, the giant snail hamster, which gives lovely cuddles to monkey to make him feel better when he is down.

This type of improvisation works well with a family audience, asking them for help to tell the story feels inclusive.  Laura Berkemeyer and Christian Berlin worked well together, with Berlin being the mime and acrobat of the two.  The variety of movement made the show interesting to children as it did not feel cumbersome, and it was light-hearted and fun, the show would probably need more content for an older child, but it is suitable for a younger audience.  A very entertaining show full of interesting ideas kept simple enough for a young child to enjoy.

Reviewer: Caroline Worswick

Reviewed: 26^th April 2025

North West End UK Rating: