Disclaimer: We received family tickets in exchange for this post, as always all thought and opinions are our own.
Ever since Emmy was little we have loved the Julia Donaldson books. There is something special about the characters from all her books, brought to life through the most amazing stories which have children and adults alike giggling away and joining in.
Recently we were invited to the Lyric Theatre in London to watch the Tall Stories’ Olivier nominated stage adaptation of Room on the Broom.
The show is 55 minutes long with no interval so a perfect length for young children and a great introduction to musical theatre for them.
Of course, there are added twists and songs for this show to bulk it out but they worked brilliantly.
The entire audience were giggling away, including the adults and joining in with the songs and actions too.
The scene is set with 4 friends heading off camping in the woods at night time when in the air they see a witch. The 4 actors play all of the roles in the show with a mix of simple yet effective costume changes and wonderful puppets.
“How the cat purred and how the witch grinned as they sat on their broomstick and flew through the wind.”
The witch and her cat are flying happily along on their broomstick when a stormy wind blows the witch’s hat, bow and wand away into the night. The children loved shouting out which items were to blow away next from hearing the story over and over again for the past few years.
The witches animal friends: a helpful dog, bird and frog are all puppets and help to find the witch’s lost things, all hopping onto the broom for a ride. But as we all know well enough – this broomstick’s not meant for five and – CRACK! – it snaps in two! The witch is oblivious for quite some time and carries on her journey singing away and chatting to her friends who have long since tumbled to the ground. This is where the audience erupted into laughter with the realisation she was talking to herself.
Then a hungry dragon appears but who will save the poor witch? And will there ever be room on the broom for everyone? I’ll not spoil the ending for you…..I know you know how it ends, really, but with the addition of amazing puppetry and new songs for all the characters, you really should watch this for yourself.
Emmy and Harry are still singing many of the songs from the show over a week after they saw it, they are that catchy (we did also get the CD as they enjoyed the songs that much) “Iggety, ziggety, zaggerty, ZOOM! look at our truly magnificent broom”
Tickets cost from £18 and the show is on at the Lyric Theatre London until 13th January 2019, family tickets are available.
Emmy aged almost 9: I didn’t really want to go as I thought it was for younger children, I am glad I changed my mind (or Mummy made me) as I couldn’t stop laughing all the time. I loved the frog most as his singing was so funny and his dancing was so crazy.
Harry aged 6: This was great. It is my favourite show and I liked to sing to the songs. The parrot was the best as she said “What the flapping heck” and “cock a bloomin’ do” and I couldn’t stop laughing.
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Clare
Hi, I'm Clare (Emmy's Mummy). A former Nanny and Mother of 2 - Emmy (born February 2010) and Harry (born October 2012). We are Essex based and share our adventures and misadventures of a busy crazy life.
