I spent a delightful hour surrounded by happy children and their parents and grandparents today. There’s really nothing better than listening to small children giggling.
Most parents will know this book – so no risk of being a spoiler.
Before the play actually starts, kids are entertained by four characters on the stage (and amongst the audience – including those up in the circle) who are in their dressing gowns getting ready to camp outside in the forest.
The stage is set with a large moon in the background and two large trees on either side of the stage. It’s creepy (hooting owls) but not too scary – the performance is designed for little people after all. And they were there in droves.
The lead character sounded and looked surprisingly like Miranda Hart. But other characters had accents from a variety of backgrounds – East London and Wales included. Everyone laughed at the snoring characters. The show starts with the friendly witch (in charming clashing red and purple rather than the traditional black) and her ginger stripy cat on the broom setting off to “the back of beyond”.
The first character they meet is the dog. This was an amazing puppet of an authentically enthusiastic young pup – complete with a waggy tail. The kids loved his infectious happiness. He stole my heart too. Then we meet the bird and finally the funny, stretchy frog. Most adults roared with laughter with some unplanned ad libs here. But the children were excited each time a new character appeared and sang an introductory song in a different style.
There was a little bit of audience interaction – mostly getting the broom to take off. I’ve been to performances where there was much more. And maybe this is why some of the smaller people got a little bit restless towards the end of the 55 minutes (actually 70 minutes in our case). The young man near me generated a cheer or two with his rather loud “I want an ice lolly” demands.
However, towards the end the big red dragon appears wanting “witch and chips” and that seemed to grab back the wandering attentions. Of course, it has a very happy ending so we all left in a good mood.
http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/room-on-the-broom/richmond-theatre/
http://www.roomonthebroomlive.co.uk/
It’s finished at Richmond Theatre now but future performances in easy reach of London are in Watford, Dartford and North Finchley.
