4 STARS. Sharon Wallace and her children enjoy a fine old time at Little Goats, a Rose Theatre show for under 6s at the Richard Mayo Centre in Kingston
Going to the theatre has become a real family treat for us. The children love watching and joining in with the performances and we enjoy seeing them engaged and interacting with the stories.
So it was with great pleasure that we visited Kingston’s Richard Mayo Centre to see Little Goats, a show by Captcha Theatre in association with the Rose Theatre. Aimed at under 6s, it is 35 minutes long – the perfect length of time for our three-year-old and 18-month-old.
This was a small-scale show that had a big impact on its young audience. Little Goats, performed by two female actors who animatedly guided and manipulated a cast of handcrafted puppets, tells the tale of ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ and had toddlers enthused from beginning to end. The children sat on cushions close to the action, and interacted with the puppets as the three goats set off on their intrepid adventure, across the bridge in search of food.
The risque encounter with the big, bad troll was the pinnacle of the show and had young viewers jumping out of their seats with warning shrieks for the brave goats. And there was plenty of opportunity for a bit of audience participation with clapping and marching and the chant of “trip, trap, trip, trap” to encourage the goats on their way.
To have a show for such a young audience is brilliant. There is something very comforting, as a parent, to know that everyone there is in the same boat. Kids will be kids and not an eyelid is batted if there is a toddler tantrum going on in the corner or if a child decides they want to run around mid show. Our youngest loves to dance and left her seat to bop around to the music every time it played.
If you have little ones, keep an eye out for more of these fantastic performances by the Rose Theatre.
- rosetheatrekingston.org
- Review by Sharon Wallace, family blogger at DesignMum.com
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