One of the pleasures of Toby Thompson’s solo shows is how it feels as if we have rocked up at his home rather than the theatre. To the twinkling sound of Melody Gardot’s If the Stars Were Mine, he is instantly at ease as he strolls on in vintage aviator gear for his version of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s bittersweet novella about a pilot who crashes in the desert and encounters a sunset-loving prince.
The book ruminates on the gulf between the worlds of youth and adulthood but, in a production designed with elan by Anisha Fields, the aesthetic is a particularly sophisticated blend of grown up and childlike. An art deco stand with burnished poles is studded with planet-like orbs; the floor and back wall display doodles and aeronautical-style charts; and sand is poured from a mug to make the desert. Saint-Exupéry’s famous sketch of a boa constrictor digesting its prey is taped on the set.
In a comical scene that accentuates the generations’ different wavelengths, Thompson switches between the roles of a school kid, excited about making a new friend, and (standing on a paint pot) a distracted parent. It captures the giddy power of first friendship – one of Saint-Exupéry’s main themes – even if the relationship between the narrator and the prince needs deepening over the hour.
Directed by Nik Partridge, this version of the tale crackles with occasional rhymes, wisely strips out several of the planets that the pair visit in the book and adds a social media fanatic more interested in gaining followers than making real friends. The whimsy has an element of Eddie Izzard’s flights of fancy, especially in the encounters between different characters. But even with two recaps during the show, the role-changing and various strands of the story ultimately lead to a wispiness that hampers momentum (a flaw in the source material, too). While Saint-Exupéry oversells his messages throughout the tale, the show understates the book’s insights on time and finding fulfilment.
Thompson is a superb scene-setter and has a breezy rapport with the audience of over-sevens. He keeps the novella’s balancing act of jolly melancholy, as well as the author’s playful engagement with the reader, reminiscent of JM Barrie’s in Peter Pan. “All grownups were once children – although few of them remember it,” wrote Saint-Exupéry. Thompson, you’d imagine, will never forget.
• At the Egg, Bath, until 6 October
