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Hold On To Your Butts

 
Laura Tucker Review by Laura Tucker 5 Published: 21 Jul 2025 Arts Theatre Show Dates: 12 Jul 2025-31 Aug 2025

You don’t need to have rewatched Jurassic Park before seeing Hold Onto Your Butts – but you’ll certainly be glad if you did. Produced by NYC-based team Recent Cutbacks, this chaotic, cut-price tribute to Spielberg’s dino epic is one of the most joyfully silly hours of theatre currently stomping around the UK.

A kazoo-powered, cardboard-crafted joyride – this is Jurassic Park like you’ve never seen it before

Scored by the nostalgic Jurassic Park theme tune… on kazoo, naturally, Jack Baldwin and Charlie Richards take us into the gloriously low-budget world of Jurassic Park – supported by gifted dino-imitator and Foley artist Charlie Ives. Together, the innately likeable trio retell the entire film with full-throated commitment and infectious glee. Every prop is repurposed, every sound made live, and every character – from little Timmy to the ever-seductive Dr Ian Malcolm – gets their own ridiculous moment in the spotlight.

Armed with little more than a cardboard set of headlights, two palm leaves and an umbrella, Baldwin has the most fun it is possible to have reproducing Nedry’s iconic dilophosaurus attack, while Richards gets serious as gameskeeper Muldoon hunted by velociraptor.

Ridiculous, yes – but also surprisingly slick. The trio, with masterful gracelessness, juggle voice work, physical comedy, sound effects and scene changes with wild-eyed energy and faithfulness to the film. Ives, in particular, merits attention at the side of the stage for her array of slurps, squelches, moans and roars, earning her moment of glory as the bloodthirsty T-Rex in the thunderous finale.

While some visual gags land better than others, there’s an undeniable charm in the show’s DIY aesthetic. A traffic cone and bike helmet become a prehistoric predator, a disembodied tie is the fated ‘blood-sucking lawyer’, and an unbuttoned shirt with breathy tone makes for an uncanny Dr Malcolm. And, within it all, tiny black picture frames ambitiously recreate blockbuster cinematography without the price tag.

Devised in NYC and evolving over the past decade to become a cult favourite, this family-friendly show feels tailor-made for fringe theatre. After its London run at the Arts Theatre, it takes its place at the Pleasance Courtyard for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – and, if there’s any justice, word of mouth will see it pack out night after night.

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The Blurb:

65 million years ago, dinosaurs ruled the Earth…30 years ago, a movie about dinosaurs ruled the box office…This summer, you are invited to HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS!

HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS showcases Foley sound and physical theatre