Review by Jo Cummins
Nick Brooke Ltd. and Kenny Wax Family Entertainment Ltd
Lyric Theatre
25th November 2015 – 10th January 2016
For ages 3 and up

This musical play is an adaptation of Judith Kerr’s classic picturebook, The Tiger Who Came To Tea. The play begins with the characters mingling in the main auditorium before hopping up on stage to introduce themselves. They immediately got the audience involved and focused by encouraging them to join in the first song.

From there on in, all the children in the audience seemed fully-engaged and desperate for Tiger to appear. Some gentle slapstick humour from Dad, whilst getting ready for work, provided laughs early on. The audience were encouraged to participate at regular intervals, counting and ‘tick-tocking’ as time passed. When the star of the show, Tiger, appeared, he wasn’t frightening but actually terribly polite. Until he started eating all of the food…

The children giggled and gasped in delight as plates of sandwiches and buns magically disappeared. There were also a few gasps from the adults in the room as Tiger dared to drink Dad’s beer, followed up by a loud belch! A clever song allowed the children time to get up and move about whilst doing a Tiger workout, ensuring that they didn’t get fidgety or bored.

By the end of the show, everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves. This show wasn’t raucous and noisy but a funny and charming introduction to the magical world of the theatre. I would recommend this to fans of the book and owners of small children.

Jo is the mother of two young boys and works as a primary school teacher (and literacy manager) in England. She has a passion for promoting reading for pleasure amongst children and has a blog at www.librarygirlandbookboy.wordpress.com where you can find recommendations for children aged 4-11.

Follow Jo @BookSuperhero2 and Children’s Theatre Reviews @ctheatrereviews