The Gruffalo's Child at Lighthouse, Poole - Review

One of the first books I bought for Elliot when he was born was The Gruffalo and then The Gruffalo's Child. He has grown up loving the stories and The Gruffalo has become a big part of our lives with trips to see him and even Gruffalo themed birthday parties!

We were meant to see The Gruffalo live show last Summer but unfortunately had to sell our tickets (fellow blogger Laura at Life with Baby Kicks went instead!) as we couldn't make it up to London. 

I was over the moon then when I saw the the live show of The Gruffalo's Child was coming to my favourite, and very local theatre at the Lighthouse, Poole. Needless to say, I snapped up tickets straight away :)

Having watched The Gruffalo's Child on DVD countless times, I was intrigued to see how it would be adapted for the stage. 

When we arrived at the theatre, we were shown to our seats and Elliot was excited to see we were in the front row and very close to the stage. As we were waiting for the show to start, he noticed somebody on stage peering round the tree branch at him...it was only the Mouse! She came down to chat some of the children in the audience and Elliot was desperate to show her his toy Gruffalo! 

When the Mouse jumped back on stage and the lights went down, Elliot was transfixed! With the Mouse narrating the story and including the lines from the book, the show begins in the cave where we meet The Gruffalo and his child. She is feeling bored and despite her Dad's warnings that "no Gruffalo should ever set foot in the deep dark wood", she sets out on an adventure and bumps into some familiar faces along the way....

© Tall Stories

The show features a small cast of 3 and the actor who plays the Gruffalo also plays the snake, the owl and the fox. We have such clear ideas of what these characters should be like after reading the book and seeing the film but the show put a brand new spin on these - who knew the snake could dance! 

The costumes are simple but The Gruffalo Child's furry suit was amazing and so colourful, being so close I could see all the detail and I was really impressed!

© Tall Stories

The show has some musical numbers which are SO catchy, I've had one of the songs stuck in my head since the weekend! The songs really help to bring the story alive and the children really enjoyed clapping along. 

The Gruffalo's Child is a really great show for 3+ kids and definitely a must for any fans of the book, or theatre in general. The show lasts for an hour without an interval so younger children would definitely enjoy it but might get a bit restless sitting sit for that long. Elliot was just starting to get fidgety so it was just the right length of time for us! 

For more tour dates and fun stuff, check out the Tall Stories website here