It’s amazing to think that this small orange bear is 66 years old and yet still manages to delight the diddlies. At Richmond Theatre yesterday, I was enveloped in the blissful sound of little folk laughing out loud, chuckling, singing, shouting, cheering and dancing – what a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
In these days of tablets and technology, how heart-warming to see little girls and boys clutching furry Sooty, Sweep and Sue puppets in their arms and being thoroughly entertained by the simple antics on stage of Richard Cadell and his musical and sometimes naughty companions.
Parents and grandparents too had a laugh – the humour worked for us and the occasional mishap prompted broad, knowing smiles. It was lovely to see young audience members invited onto stage to help cook a birthday cake and participate in a musical statues competition. My heart went out to the young fellow who ran unprompted onto the stage to give Sooty a big hug. Wonderful stuff.
It’s a short show – 35 minutes for part one, then a 20 minute break and then another 35 minutes. And all the little folk around me were utterly entranced the entire time. There was no fidgeting.
The story is built loosely around the preparations for Sooty’s birthday party – and there were actions, singing and shouting aplenty. Balloons, water pistols and even some impressive magic added to the fun. We all remembered “Izzy Wizzy let’s get busy”.
As well as the main characters there were appearances by the Ramsbottom with his Yorkshire accent and the rather butch Butch. There were familiar songs (“Heads, shoulders, knees and toes” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Light Star”), made up songs (“We want you on the cleaning crew”) and bought right up to date with clips by that naughty Sweep of “Gangham Style”, “Chihuahua” and “Poker Face”. The kids loved it all.
Other tour dates near London include: Guildford (19 February) and Bromley (3 April),
Further information here: http://www.thesootyshow.com/live-dates/
