The Giggler Treatment: kids’ show delivers anarchic fun deep in the dog doo
The Ark, Dublin until January 7
Anne O’Riordan, Shauna Harris, Michael Tient and Leah Kavanagh in The Giggler Treatment. Photo: Ros Kavanagh
This is a whole heap of fun. Roddy Doyle’s book The Giggler Treatment was his first foray into children’s lit. It was published in 2000 with a reading age of 7+ and was hugely popular. Any older Gen Z folks will have encountered it new as a kid, much like writer/composer Fionn Foley. A keen child-centred anarchy in the story translates perfectly to the stage.
The gigglers are a bunch of elf-like creatures who target adults who are mean to kids by making them walk in dog poo. Mr Mack, who works as a biscuit taster, sends his two sons to bed without dinner as punishment for breaking the window with their football for the eighth time. This alerts the gigglers, who select him for poo-reprimand. But unbeknownst to them, Mr Mack has relented and rescinded the punishment. So Rover the dog, along with the rest of the family, set off to save the dad from a certain smelly destiny. The poo originally belonged to Rover, who sells his “business” to the gigglers for profit.
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