From a festival exploring how technology shapes our lives, to adaptations of poems, picturebooks and fairytales young and old, to space bunnies, bees and a star-seeking puppy, May half term in London is packed with children’s theatre…

Polka Theatre

Polka Theatre are celebrating the holidays with Techtopia, a festival exploring the role of technology and childhood. There’s a packed programme of workshops, debates and theatre, including a couple of our favourite shows of recent years – iPet, a comedy double act magic show with an ingenious use of handheld devices, and Error 404, which asks some meaty philosophical questions while letting the audience direct the action.

You can find more information & book tickets here

Southbank Centre

Set sail at the Southbank Centre with a ragtag band of explorers, on a quest to catch the highly prized mythical Snark. Lewis Carroll’s classic poem, Hunting The Snark, has been transformed into a sparkling family musical adventure for ages 4+.

You can find more information & book tickets here

Theatre Royal Stratford East

Glamour and glitz take centre stage at Theatre Royal Stratford East as critically acclimated cabaret star Le Gateau Chocolat breaks out of his shell in his first work for children. Duckie (for ages 3-300!) is a reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling, a classic tale of identity and belonging with a message of tolerance and self-acceptance at its core.

You can find more information & book tickets here

artsdepot

Join Marty the puppy on his journey to find the brightest light in the night sky with Twinkle Twinkle, a play for little ones aged 1–3 featuring puppetry, interaction and an original score. For older audiences (4+), there’s Michael Rosen’s Chocolate Cake, the lip-smackingly scrumptious story of two brothers and one massive, mouth-watering, missing cake.

You can find more information & book tickets here

Lyric Hammersmith

Run, run as fast as you can to Lyric Hammersmith this May half term, and you just might catch The Gingerbread Man! Meet the bravest biscuit of all time in this adaptation of the classic tale for ages 3-10.

You can find information & book tickets here

Unicorn Theatre

Little monsters are welcome at Unicorn Theatre this May half term. David McKee’s iconic picturebook Not Now, Bernard – the story of Bernard, his disinterested parents, and the hungry monster in the garden – is brought to life by leading children’s theatremaker Sarah Argent for children age 3+.

You can find more information & book tickets here

Little Angel Theatre 

At Little Angel Theatre you can journey across Japan and through the seasons with The Little Mochi Man (ages 4-8), catch the classic fairytale Tom Thumb performed entirely on and under a kitchen table (ages 4-8), and escape the city with Stories on a String (ages 6+), which sees a girl leave behind a Facebook-fuelled life to travel into the Amazon jungle on a quest to find her Grandma.

You can find more information & book tickets here

Ovalhouse 

A solitary lighthouse keeper faces the biggest decision of her life in The Isle of Brimsker, a new multisensory journey for young people aged 13+ with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities. Comedy Me and My Bee invites you to join the Bee Party, a political party disguised as a party party disguised as a show for ages 5+.

You can find more information & book tickets here

Greenwich Theatre

Comic artist John Hegley has poems, songs, stories and animal drawings galore designed to delight and bewitch young audiences in All Hail the Snail and Other Creatures (for ages 5+). There’s more poetry-inspired fare with The Owl and the Pussycat (ages 3+), a chance to enter the nonsense world of Edward Lear with an adaptation of his fizzgiggious work. For another adaptation of a well-known tale, catch The Elves and the Shoemaker (ages 2+), a retelling of the classic fairytale with an original score of songs. And that’s not all! There’s also Rufus Longbottom and the Space Rabbit (ages 5+), a show with music, magic, and an intergalactic bunny looking for home.

You can find more information & book tickets here

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