The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly at Lighthouse Poole - Review

As a family we love going to the theatre to see family friendly shows and we are spoilt for choice in our local area. The Lighthouse Poole is our local theatre and they have a wide range of live shows including a fabulous line up of kid friendly performances. 

Over the Easter holidays, the People's Theatre Company bought their fantastic live show to Poole - The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. This is a story I remember reading as a little girl and as always with these kind of shows, I was really intrigued to see how a short children's book could be turned into an hour long show! 

As we took our seats, the stage was simply set with a sofa, fridge and a simple window backdrop. The story began and we were introduced to the old lady - who was a spritely old thing! We also met an alien and a space traveller called Nambang from the planet Toefluff. 

Photo credit - PTC

As you may have guessed, the story is not quite as you expect! I won't give anything away but let's just say, the audience are very much encouraged to join in with the songs. The singing helps the old lady finish the story so we (and the aliens) can see what happens. How does she eat all those animals? Does she die?! 

Photo Credit - PTC

At just over an hour, this was the perfect amount of time to keep my little ones entertained. I think the alien story line went over their heads a little but they found it hilarious watching the animation of when the old lady eats all the animals. The audience participation was fun and very suited for the age range in the audience - even Erin (2) knew most of the songs so it was fab for her to be able to join in. 

Elliot's favourite part (and I knew it would be!) was getting to shout "PERHAPS SHE'LL DIE!!!!" at the end of every segment. He was a bit over enthusiastic at times haha! 

The icing on the cake for the children was spotting the characters in the foyer after the show - Erin's a bit funny with people dressed up but even she had her photo with the alien! 

Thank you PTC for a fun afternoon - we hope see more of your shows in the future :)

For more information and tour dates, check out the PTC website

**Disclaimer - We were provided with press tickets for the purpose of this review but our reviews are always honest!