Half term is from Monday, October 24 to Friday, October 28 2016. What are you going to do with the kids during this half term? If you are running low on ideas, we have got you covered with this guide on the ten best children’s theatre shows for the half term.
1. Three Little Pigs
The three Little Pigs from the Stuff And Nonsense Theatre Company is a great show for children aged two and above. It is a lively and musical tale about three little pigs trying to make sure the big, bad wolf does not get into their home. Do the pigs actually outsmart the wolf? Or does the wolf huff and puff till he blows their house down? It is a performance filled with songs, jokes, scary thrills and puppets your kids cannot help but love.
2. The Gruffalo
Which kid does not love little Mouse who manages to outsmart all adversaries? Mouse meets a party-crazy snake, an old stuffy owl and the tweed-jacketed crafty fox while searching for hazelnuts and is told about the Gruffalo. Will Mouse end up outsmarting the big and terrifying Gruffalo?
3. Jack and the Beans Talk
Garlic Theatre retells the traditional Jack and the Beanstalk tale in a new and fresh way with the introduction of talking beans. The show uses puppets, is very audience interactive and is humour rich. Imagine how Jack feels when he exchanges his cow for some beans and then begins to hear whispers and rumbles. Kids aged three and above will enjoy this show.
4. Around the World in 80 days
Let your kids join Phileas Fogg, a reluctant adventurer as he attempts to circle the globe in 80 days or lose his life’s fortune. This show is presented as a musical that retells Jules Verne’s novel and takes you through a high speed, transcontinental race against the clock as Fogg and his valet, Passe-partout travel from Victorian London across the world and back.
5. Bec and Tom’s Awesome Laundry
Children aged five and older will enjoy comedians Bec and Tom in this hour-long delivery of fun for kids. It is laundry day, Bec is trying to escape the laundry chores and has to be dragged to the laundrette by Tom. She resorts to lively tricks from storytelling to puppeteering to playing games and has Tom trying hard to rein in all the silliness.
6. Bedtime Stories
Your kids will get tucked into bed as they watch Bedtime Stories. With its use of 3D, circus, dance and projections, Bedtime Stories helps you enter a world of imagination and dream as a little girl with the help of her imaginary friend who goes to rescue her mother who has been taken away by work pressures.
7. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
In this kid-friendly retell of Lewis Caroll’s story, Alice falls down a rabbit hole, tumbles into Wonderland and begins a fascinating adventure. In Alice’s adventures, she meets strange people and experiences many curious things. Your kids four and above will enjoy going on these adventures with Alice in this show which uses puppets and a hand-painted set to recreate Wonderland.
8. Emily Rising
This is a heartfelt puppetry piece, which tells the tale of Emily who wakes one morning and finds her feet will not touch the ground. As she floats away, she keeps rising higher and experiences the different scenes of London from above. Older children from age seven will like this show that tells them about growing up.
9. Brrr!
Steve is a penguin who does not like how cold he is feeling and wants to leave his Antarctica home to join his cousins in warm South Africa. But Steve cannot fly! So how will he get there as he surely cannot waddle all the way there? In Brrr! help falls out of the sky into Steve’s garden to get him to South Africa. Have your three and above kids discover if Steve does make it to South Africa.
10. Underneath a Magical Moon
This show takes your kids aged three and above through a Peter Pan based story but as seen through the eyes of Wendy Darling, his friend. Under the magical moon, time stands still as the Tuti Frutti Theatre Company creates this world of adventure with exquisite music, a mystical blue lagoon and a sprinkle of magic.