The thoughtful touch at this venue was two rows of weenie seats at the front that my petit companion Olivia (4) announced she was going to sit in, next to the girl at the front. A great venue but it would have been even better to have tea or coffee available at the interval not just snacks for the kids.
Black light puppetry is where the puppeteers dress all in black against a black backdrop in order to animate the puppets. This was so effective that at no point did I see an outline and this gave the show a magical quality, particularly since all the colours are day-glow and simply radiate make-believe.
The Pips of the title - a cheeky monkey-, has a friend Panda - a panda - who gets flown away on the end of Goldilocks’ kite. So, the well-loved tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears gets a twist with some new and entertaining characters.
Top marks to this immensely professional show for being pitched perfectly for the audience age group. There really is nothing like the beautiful sound of lots of children bubbling with laughter at the terrific slapstick onstage. A meet-and-greet with the puppets afterwards, makes this show more than worth the journey. But don’t take my word for it. Saskia (3) said, ‘It’s great. I like the rabbit best’ - Bertie, the cross-dressing, southern States accented bunny - me too Saskia, me too. Lewis (4) said, ‘It was good, I liked the monkey best.’ My young companion Olivia, whose first language is Spanish but was enthralled throughout said, ‘I like when the mum -bear- shaked her bum.’
