We had the buggy with us and were able to leave it in the foyer along with lots of others; the friendly staff showed me where was best.
We sat in the dress circle on row C and had a brilliant view. Booster seats were available for the children but I didn’t bother getting one for Lil as I knew she’d fidget around and be on and off my lap. Even without the booster she could see the stage no problem as the rows are tiered.
The show is based on the book series “Oi Frog” which I’ve recently introduced to Lil. There’s a big focus on rhyming which she doesn’t quite understand yet but she still enjoys all the animals that are featured. I wouldn’t say you’d need to have read the books to go and see the show but it definitely helped having some knowledge of the story as sometimes we were encouraged to shout out some of the rhyming words from the story.
There were only 4 actors on stage playing a range of different animals and I thought they were all fantastic! The puppets were so believable and seemed to come to life on stage, and Lil was mesmerised! The story alternated between talking and songs – Lil’s attention was lost a little in the songs but was always brought back again as the story continued.
The frog was played by Sarah Palmer during the performance we saw and she was fantastic at bringing him to life and giving him a perfect little voice!
There was just the right amount of audience participation – the children were encouraged to finish off the rhymes, and clap along sometimes to the songs. It was also very well received when an elephant began to squirt water into the audience! I feel that you’d get the best experience by sitting in the stalls – for example sometimes some of the cast came out into the audience or scattered paper from the stage but this only benefited those sat in the stalls.
Another thing that went down really well with the children was a lot of references to bottoms/bums!! It was done in a very age appropriate way and there was always a lot of laughs whenever the topic came around!!
I’d really recommend this show, especially for 3 or 4 year olds who are fans of the books! Lil was a little too young to understand all the rhyming and appreciate the humour but she still had a fantastic time, as did I. A really well put-together show and a lovely treat to attend together with my little one.