Babe The Sheep-Pig Live on Stage - A review

This weekend we took the girls to the theatre in Newbury to see a brilliant stage show of Babe, The Sheep-Pig.

Babe, The Sheep Pig is a live stage retelling of the famous Dick King-Smith story of The Sheep Pig and we added it to a wonderful restaurant lunch to turn it into a perfect family day out.  The show was perfectly pitched for families - not so arty as to confuse the children, but definitely not dumbed-down for kids. From the lighting to the costumes, from the singing to the puppetry, this theatrical retelling of the Sheep Pig was everything you'd expect from a stage show and would make a perfect introduction to the theatre for children.

Babe, The Sheep-Pig is a story about a little pig who gets taken in by a farmer and his sheep-dog. The maternal sheep-dog Fly looks after Babe and helps pass on some of the skills it takes to become a prize-winning sheep-dog. But Babe soon learns that he has one more skill he can bring - politeness - and this means he cstands a chance of being a prize-winning sheep-pig.

Lara and Holly both spent the entire show wrapped up in its magic. They giggled at the silly sheep (whose costumes were perfect); they oohed and aaahed at the terrifying wolf; they joined in with the chants to help Babe be his best and they cheered when Babe found glory.  Both Lara and Holly did find the end of the first act a little disturbing; there is strobe lighting, a very dark part-human / part-puppet representation of a wolf, a death scene and a threat with a gun. Surprisingly, most of the children in the theatre coped pretty well with this scene and it definitely got people talking and thinking before the interval.

We enjoyed all the costume changes, dances and musical numbers and we felt that the puppets fitted into the show seamlessly.

To see where Babe, The Sheep-Pig will be performing, visit www.BabeThePigLive.com. There are venues all over the UK from now until mid-September so there are lots of chances to see the show.

#Win - Win a family ticket to see Tall Stories' The Gruffalo Live!

A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood...

Join Mouse on a daring adventure through the deep, dark wood in Tall Stories’ magical, musical adaptation of the classic picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

Searching for hazelnuts, Mouse meets the cunning Fox, the eccentric old Owl and the party mad Snake. Will the story of the terrifying Gruffalo save Mouse from ending up as dinner for these hungry woodland creatures? After all, there’s no such thing as a Gruffalo – is there?

Songs, laughs and scary fun for children aged 3 and up and their grown-ups, in the much-loved show that’s toured Britain and the world!

The Gruffalo is playing at the Lyric Theatre until 8 January 2017.  For more information and to book your tickets (from £14.50) call 0330 333 4812 or visit gruffalolive.com.  Running time 55 minutes (no interval).

To be in with e chance of winning a family ticket (four tickets with a maximum of two adults) to see the Gruffalo that the Lyric Theatre, all you have to do is to leave me a comment below by the 17th October and let me know which your favourite Julia Donaldson character is. The tickets are valid for Saturday performances at 10am up until the 30 November.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. The promoter is: Mellow Mummy
2. Entry is via a blog comment and a valid email address must be supplied when logging into the commenting mechanism. Entries with only facebook or twitter account details will not be deemed valid.
3. There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition.
4. Route to entry for the competition and details of how to enter are via www.mellowmummy.co.uk
5. Closing date for entry is 17th October 2016. After this date the no further entries to the competition will be permitted.
6. No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.
7. The rules of the competition and the prize for each winner are as follows: One winner will receive a family ticket (four tickets, maximum two adults) to see The Gruffalo at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London. Valid for Saturday performances at 10am until 30 November, subject to availability. No cash alternative available. Travel and Accommodation not included.
8. The promoter reserves the right to cancel or amend the competition and these terms and conditions without notice in the event of a catastrophe, war, civil or military disturbance, act of God or any actual or anticipated breach of any applicable law or regulation or any other event outside of the promoter’s control. Any changes to the competition will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by the promoter.
9. The promoter is not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied to any entrant by any third party connected with this competition.
10. No cash alternative to the prizes will be offered. The prizes are not transferable. Prizes are subject to availability and we reserve the right to substitute any prize with another of equivalent value without giving notice.
11. Winners will be drawn at random by Mellow Mummy.
12. The winner will be notified by email within 2 days of the closing date. If the winner cannot be contacted or does not claim the prize within 2 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner as the tickets are time sensitive.
13. The winner will be asked by the promoter to provide their name, postal address and mobile contact number which will be passed on to the prize supplier.
14. The promoter’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
15. By entering this competition, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.
16. The competition and these terms and conditions will be governed by English law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.
17. Any personal data relating to the winner or any other entrants will be used solely in accordance with current UK data protection legislation and will not be disclosed to a third party without the entrant’s prior consent.

One Snowy Night at Norden Farm, Maidenhead

Yesterday I took the girls to Norden Farm theatre and centre for the arts in Maidenhead to see One Snowy Night - a theatrical adaptation of one of Nick Butterworth's tales of Percy the Parkeeper. It was a really magical way to get our festive season off to a start and it was Holly's first real theatre experience.  She loved it!

In fact, we all did.  One Snowy Night is a perfect introduction to the theatre for children and is probably best suited to children from 3-6 years old.  At only 55 minutes long, it is short enough that even the smallest members of the audience can concentrate for the full show.  Holly got a bit fidgety towards the end but she was enjoying the music so much that she was stood up from her seat hopping along to the tunes.

The story of the show is a beautiful tale about the animals from Percy's park all feeling the cold from the very snowy night - they seek solace in Percy's hut.  It is a soft, tender tale but presented in a fun, engaging way.

Both Lara and Holly loved the musical numbers which feature throughout the show - they seemed most taken with a silly ode to the humble sandwich!

One of the things that really struck me about the show was that it was real theatre - not panto and certainly not dumbed down for the tiny audience. Myself and Mr. B. were very impressed by the clever stage management which features two cast members (other than Percy himself) who are there to help the story unfold.  Both Lara and Holly are still talking about how the piece of the park hedgerow magically fell off in front of Percy as he trimmed them, even though they both know and understand that it was the cast members who made this happened.  It was just so cleverly done, and the sign of a good stage performance.

The entire second half of the show is filled with all of Percy's cuddly animal friends.  Quite how the cast managed to remember which accent they were supposed to use for each animal is beyond me.  Each animal (or set of animals) had its own strong character.  Lara enjoyed the fluffy squirrel whose tail tickled everyone.  Holly enjoyed the cheeky fox who stole all the biscuits.

One Snowy Night is showing at Norden Farm in Maidenhead, Berkshire from now until the end of December.  A family ticket costs £45.  We thought the intimate location really added to the family-friendliness of the event and the girls both enjoyed searching for Percy's animals who are hidden throughout the arts centre.

Should My 2 Year Old Be More Cultured?

Last week I noticed about three conversations in my facebook timeline from real people (not these funny virtual people like bloggers, you know) talking about taking their children to the theatre. It dawned on me that I've never done anything like that with Lara... perhaps I should?

Then I thought again. Lara is two and a half... and wiggly. Lara can't sit still for more than 20 seconds. How would I ever take her to the theatre? Surely we'd end up leaving after 20 seconds and totally wasting our money? Or perhaps she would be enthralled and surprise me by staying glued to her seat? It seems like an expensive gamble to me.

Last summer, at around the time of her second birthday, we took Lara to the cinema to watch Winnie the Pooh. Although she did enjoy most of it, I think she found the drama of the big screen a bit overwhelming and she screamed through much of the movie and insisted on sitting on my lap. Watching the same film at home, she is a lot more relaxed (mind you, she won't sit on the sofa watching it and prefers to walk around the room and dance during the movie).

Before Lara came into our lives, we quite regularly used to see plays in London; in fact, we watched two in the run up to her birth (and the bump freaked out at Blood Brothers) because we knew it could be a while before we went again. And so, every time my monthly copy of my Mum's comping magazine drops through my letterbox, I read through and see really tempting competitions for fun sounding things like Lion King Tickets and then make the decision not to enter because I just can't picture it working. (Now I've written that it sounds silly because if there was ever a cheap way to make the 'should-I-take-Lara-to-the-theatre gamble', it would be to win the tickets).

What do you think? Am I being totally unmellow? Should I try taking Lara to see the Lion King? or the Gruffalo? or Peppa Pig or even Hairy Maclary on stage? Should my 2 year old be more cultured?