Wee Write! brings ancient Egypt to modern Glasgow

• Brian Donaldson
• 24 January 2018

Magic of the Mummy by Clydebuilt Puppet Theatre

Events in Aye Write!'s children's programme feature mummies, pharaohs and mysteries aplenty

From the young King Tutankhamun to spooky wrapped-up mummies, and from the magisterial Sphinx to those jaw-dropping pyramids, the iconography of Ancient Egypt lives on in the west's collective psyche. At Wee Write (the weekend children's programme within Aye Write!), two events will keep that flame burning a little longer.

Museum Mystery Squad and the Case of the Hidden Hieroglyphics with Mike Nicholson is an hour of riddles, red herrings and odd facts after a curious message is found on a pharaoh's casket. Dubbed 'Scooby-Doo meets Doctor Who', this should appeal to any young detectives who love cracking a code.

Meanwhile, Clydebuilt Puppet Theatre's Magic of the Mummy: Tales of Ancient Egypt features an intrepid explorer entering a tomb in search of the first mummy. As puppeteer Leigh McCalister notes, when it comes to Ancient Egypt, we're all in the same boat. 'Like archaeologists, children are also fascinated by this ancient past, a colourful world entirely different to the one in which we now live, one that's full of magic and mystery.'

Magic of the Mummy uses shadow sequences and rod puppets to bring this bygone period to vivid life. 'The show is a wonderful puppetry and storytelling theatre experience about the creation of the first mummy and who the important Gods of Ancient Egypt were,' says McCalister. 'It's a story of life and death, and love and jealousy in Egypt, based on figures that were left inside the pyramids.'

Museum Mystery Squad and the Case of the Hidden Hieroglyphics with Mike Nicholson, Sat 3 Mar, 12.45pm; Magic of the Mummy: Tales of Ancient Egypt, Sun 4 Mar, 12.15pm. Both events are at Mitchell Library, Glasgow.