Kids in London – Tin Tin (Richmond Theatre)

Oh no! You have only FOUR days to catch this FANTASTIC production at Richmond. Then it goes to Woking and Plymouth and other far far away, not-in-London places. Don’t miss it!

My ten year old daughter said that this was the BEST thing she had ever seen at theatre – and she has been to a LOT of shows. It’s a cold half term – and nothing else you might half consider doing will even start to compare to this. It’s great theatre. It’s funny. It’s clever. And it’s something that the kids (and adults) will remember for life.

How can I begin to describe this theatrical gastronomic feast? Should I tell you about the incredible scene sets – the awesome back drop of the Himalayan mountains cleverly lit to show different times of the day, the Buddhist monastery, the “rise out of the ground in front of your very eyes” plane crash site that puts multi-million pound Lost to shame or the convincing cave dwelling at the end? Or should I tell you about the opening scene with a rather dizzying musical psychedelic montage of people and songs and lights – complete with The Thompson Twins, bad guys in raincoats and even a couple of ninjas thrown in with some realistic fights.

To begin with it’s all terribly confusing and for a fraction of a moment you think “Oh no, it’s one of those trendy but meaningless modern interpretations that I will hate” but then it’s all so very wonderful. My daughter squealed with delight “It’s a real dog!” on the next scene. But then the “real” Snowy dog was replaced by a human version – who captured essence of dog better than any Hollywood shaggy dog story. We will always believe that dogs say “I love you. I love you. I love you” like that. And we had a substitute playing tonight – David Newman – and he is welcome in our home anytime.

The second half opened with a tremendous mountain climbing and rescue scene and actors who looked genuinely precarious hanging by their ropes. Anyway. The entire two hours (including a 20 minute interval and a five minute technical hitch) flew by and was filled with either the sounds of children laughing or holding their breath at exciting but tense scenes. And most adults managed a good few belly laughs too. The flight scene to Katmandu and the porters scenes had us rolling in the aisles – literally. And we are still humming one or two of the rousing songs – and smiling as we remember the clever staging of the mountain climb and Captain Haddock’s whisky capers. And then Snowy’s whisky capers – you will believe a dog can drink!

Captain Haddock was exceptional and larger than life – just as you would expect him to be. Snowy nearly stole the show. Tin Tin was – as you would expect from a serious hero – a little too wholesome to win our hearts in quite the same way.

If you are trying to interest your young son in theatre then this is the show for them. Big brave heroes, boyhood friends that last forever, blustering bearded captains with interesting ways to express anger, mountain adventures, cave dwelling booming enormous yetis – this really is boy’s own stuff. My brave ten year old admitted to finding the production a bit scary in places - but scared in a good way she added quickly. And I know that we will now spend time this week tracking down Tin Tin books and stories to fuel a new interest.

They sure did Hergé proud. We were truly impressed. And left the theatre with huge smiles on our faces.

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