In this live stage version Freckle Productions take a largely bare stage and transform it with song and atmospheric lighting, along with bags of energy and audience interaction to bring the story imaginatively to life.

Tabby McTat is a busker’s cat, so as you can imagine music is at the heart of this production. While it is a shame there is no live music, the four actors get around this comically by making an accordion out of old newspaper and bag-pipes from a couple of bags and a bottle. Busker Fred’s guitar is a two-dimensional MDF cut-out. While initially a disappointment it allows the actors to quickly swap hats to switch roles and encourages all the children to join-in with their air guitars.

Sometimes different actors take on the same role and there is gender-blind casting too – so there is lots to keep everyone on their toes following the action.

As a fast-paced, musical for kids, Tabby McTat appeals to a range of ages from pre-schoolers to early juniors. There is a whole mix of song styles from folk to hip-hop, rapping to full-blown Broadway show tunes with jazz hands . When poor Fred breaks his leg and bangs his head there is even a cheery, love-song to the NHS.

Among the music and mayhem there is also a fun magic act and lots of laughter. The hour zips along leaving everyone smiling, dancing, and singing. Or as Tabby McTat would put it, ‘purr-fectly happy’.

Tabby McTat live on stage is at The Lowry from 6-8 September 2019. See website for full tour details.

Hear song Me You and the Old Guitar from Tabby McTat.

Read our interview with children’s author, Julia Donaldson.

The post Tabby McTat live on stage: Review appeared first on Quays Life.

The popular story was first a picture book, then an animated film, and has been adapted for the stage by the imaginative Scamp Theatre.

A cast of three actors bring the tale vibrantly to life with a mix of music, songs, comedy and puppetry. Axel Scheffler’s wide-eyed illustration has been recreated in puppet form, whose emotions take exaggerated human form in the flexible and funny, Mathew Hamper. He winces when chewed by a dog; pinches his nose when pecked by a swan; holds his breath with puffed cheeks when thrown into the river by a girl; and holds his head and shouts when used as a bat on the beach.

Lara Cowin who plays his ‘Stick Lady Love’ also takes on numerous other roles as a ninja-loving girl, a dog, a beach lover, a swan and Santa’s trusty reindeer, Rudolph. Each one she takes on with a range of rubber-faced expressions and the dynamic energy needed for a family show. Her dog chasing and beach-ball throwing antics bring the whole theatre into story and make for some ear-splitting audience interaction.

The multi-talented Robert Wade takes on a variety of roles as well as creating the music and sound effects for the show. He plays the ukulele, saxophone, and his energetic percussion playing is like a form of dance.

There is never a dull moment in this hour-long show. All the characters are larger-than-life, and sometimes camped-up in a jolly hockey sticks kind of way. Still the little ones don’t notice the actors’ tongue-in-cheek sending up of themselves. The youngsters are too busy following the story, finding the dog, leaping for the ball, singing, and of course shouting at the top of their lungs to wake-up and save Stick Man.

Thanks to his young friends in the audience, the adventure ends happily with a magical sleigh-ride, gifts from Father Christmas, a flurry of snow, and Stick Man safely  home in the family tree.

★ ★ ★ ★

Stick Man from Scamp Theatre is at The Lowry, Salford Quays from 1 December 2018 – 6 January 2019. Visit website for full tour details.

Read our interview with Lara Cowin.

Read our interview with Julia Donaldson.

The post Stick Man from Scamp Theatre at The Lowry Theatre, Review appeared first on Quays Life.

What is your favourite part of the show?

This varies but I do really enjoy the ‘snow scene’ which takes place a little later in the show. Stick Man has been through a lot and this moment is rather poignant. He’s cold, months have passed, the seasons have changed and the stakes are getting higher. Will he ever make it back to the Family Tree?

What are you most looking forward to when performing at The Lowry?

I have always wanted to perform at The Lowry so I am very excited about this upcoming run! I have only ever heard positive things about the venue. Plus, I am really looking forward to getting to know Manchester. I have only been to the city a couple of times, but I think it will be a magical place over Christmas. I’m delighted to be here!

What moment in the show do children most react to?

The children usually love the moments with audience interaction such as the dog chase and the beach ball scene. Sometimes their enthusiasm and sheer joy is totally infectious and makes our job onstage incredibly rewarding. The children often know all the words and are bold enough to speak along with us. I particularly love it when they shout words of reassurance to Stick Man; ‘don’t worry, you’ll make it back to the Family Tree!’. That’s very cute.

Why should families come to see Stick Man?

Stick Man is not just a children’s show. It’s for the whole family! It’s imaginative, quirky, funny and a vibrant spectacle with singing, music and dancing. It’s a beautiful story with heart – you care about the characters and, mostly, Stick Man finding his way safely home. It has been a joy to return to the role of Stick Lady Love.

Stick Man is at The Lowry, Salford Quays from 1 December 2018 – 6 January 2019. Visit website for full tour details. 

Read our review of Stick Man at The Lowry.
Read our interview with Julia Donaldson.

Accessible Performances:
BSL performance: Sat 29 December 2018, 2.30pm. Interpreted by Emma Jane Heap.
Relaxed performance: Wed 12 December, 1.30pm.
Captioned performance: Sat 15 December 2018, 2.30pm. By Stagetext.
Audio described performance: Sat 22 December 2018, 2.30pm. By Anne Hornsby, Mindseye.
To book accessible tickets please call 0161 876 2183 or email access@thelowry.com

The post Lara Cowin returns safely home to The Stick Man at The Lowry appeared first on Quays Life.

We’ve been months in the waiting – The Lowry is the final stop on a tour running since January. However, such is the pull of Julia Donaldson’s stories that my little theatre buddy’s enthusiasm hasn’t waned in the slightest.

I did wonder if such anticipation could lead to a let-down. I needn’t have worried. We’ve seen many of Donaldson’s other books staged and this production is by far the best.

There are so many reasons for this. First is the staging, designed in consultation with Lydia Monks, who drew the original illustrations for the book. The bold colours and familiar outlines are striking, creating an instant feel we’re entering the world of a picture book.

A delight of the book is the fun of using your imagination and Monks provides plenty of opportunity for that here too, with inventive use of props creating some brilliant participatory scenes in which many of the farmyard characters are brought to life. An old bicycle, a tin bath and a bit of rope become the handsome horse. A sheep-skin rug, a wheel-barrow, and a rugby ball become the woolly sheep; and a few rough brushes become the dainty dog. Of course, the welcoming, big eyes provide the finishing touch to make these cartoon-like characters spring into life.

Another huge strength is the lively music from JollyGoodTunes, which runs through the whole show, making it in essence, a mini-musical. It’s a mix of recorded and live tunes, with the cast playing a variety of instruments including flute, guitar, violin and penny whistle. It’s wonderfully upbeat and has the audience spontaneously joining in with its catchy rhythm and animal sound lyrics.

The four-strong cast are terrific too. Their performances are polished and energetic. They bounce easily off the audience and the audience in return bounce eagerly back. And what great voices too, particularly Emma Breton (Farmer).

Emma Carroll is beautiful on the flute attracting the little Ladybird, who darts about like a sparky fire-fly on stage. Benedict Hastings’ Lanky Len, with his Daffy Duck voices is a definite crowd-pleaser. In the production we saw, understudy Will Steele stood in as Hefty Hugh. His antics with Lanky Len as the two hapless burglars, who plan to steal the farmer’s prize cow, make for some fantastic comic moments.

It is here that Donaldson’s story comes fully alive on stage –  the directions of the villains’ plan and the Ladybird’s idea to foil it become a comic stalking round the duck pond. We all know what’s going to happen, but Steele and Hastings hook us in all the same.

The 55 minutes whizzes by, then there’s a quick audience participation song before the farmer and friends are away, leaving us all smiling and singing on the way home. For a summer treat you couldn’t hope for a sunnier children’s show.

Kenny Wax Family Entertainment in association with Matthew Gregory’s production of What The Ladybird Heard Live on stage is at The Lowry from 1 – 26 August. Visit website for details.

To find out more watch the trailer below and read our interview with Julia Donaldson.

The post What the Ladybird Heard Live appeared first on Quays Life.

She was the 2011-2013 UK Children’s Laureate and has been honoured with an MBE for Services to Literature. Julia and her husband Malcolm divide their time between West Sussex and Edinburgh.

Julia Donaldson talks to Quays Life about What the Ladybird Heard and the stage show based on it that is at the Lowry this summer.

How did the idea for the story of What the Ladybird Heard come about?

I was walking in the countryside with my youngest son and we were reminiscing about when he was a little boy. At an age when children are just learning to read, his teacher had given the class an exercise matching up animal noises with animal pictures, but because most of the children couldn’t yet read, the activity went comically wrong. The hen hissed instead of clucking and the dog meowed and so on. I thought it would be lovely to use this idea of animals making the wrong noises in a story somehow and my son, now a young man, suggested animals playing a trick on the farmer. Then I hit upon the idea of two thieves trying to steal the farmer’s fine prize cow. So, it was quite nice how the story came about really.

What inspired you to work with Lydia Monks on this book? Is there anything about her illustrations and collages that particularly appeal to you?

I’d worked with Lydia before on a couple of books and I knew she liked drawing farm animals. She’s very good at it. I think Lydia’s work is very stylish really. She’s rather inventive and she’s got a tremendous sense of design. I see her very much as a designer in her work and that’s why I’m thrilled she was involved in the design of the stage show [Lydia is design consultant on the show] and I’m really pleased that the set and costumes are very truthful to her illustrations.

And how did you come up with the idea of the Ladybird? One wouldn’t ordinarily associate Ladybirds with farmyard animals.

I think the idea of a very little character outwitting bigger and brawnier ones really appealed. And probably the fact that Lady – bird rhymes with heard. [Rhyming is an integral part of Julia’s work].

This is fine of course until the book was published in America, where “Ladybird” becomes “Ladybug”.

I had to change quite a lot for the American version of the book; apparently, police cars don’t go NEE NAWH there.

Would you say the small [voice] outwitting the bigger and louder ones is a common theme in your books?

I suppose some of them yes – The Gruffalo, What the Ladybird Heard and also The Snail and the Whale. I think it’s a very common theme in stories for children and adults. Often, it’s a rather nerdy detective that solves the crime and wins against gangsters or crooks. I did try in Zog though, to make him the biggest and clumsiest dragon there is, because I think there’s a bit too much little and clever out there.

Did you ever consider a different ending for What the Ladybird Heard or did you have a very clear sense of the ending from the outset?

The ending is very important, as I was saying the initial idea revolves around the trick of the animals making the wrong noises, so the story had to lead up to that. I hadn’t thought up the duck pond initially. Usually, I let my villains off quite lightly. You see them being arrested and I really like the image in the show of the tiny police van leaving the farm, I’m delighted that was worked in.

How does it feel to see your stories come to life on stage?

Exciting and a little scary too. I have one eye on the stage and the other on the audience – to check that they are enjoying it.

Would you ever consider revisiting any of the characters from What the Ladybird Heard?

Yes, there are now three books in the series What the Ladybird Heard, What the Ladybird Heard Next and What the Ladybird Heard on Holiday.

Do you sometimes look back to the beginning, to your first book, A Squash and a Squeeze and think about the millions of books you’ve sold since?

A Squash and a Squeeze was published in 1993, I had written it as a song years before, when I was in my twenties and wrote for television. Around the same time as Playschool was on television, there was another ‘Watch with Mother’ programme called Play Board. I wrote songs for the show based on Aesop’s Fables and then came A Squash and a Squeeze. It’s a traditional story and the song went on to be used a lot on children’s television. It’s on a BBC album of children’s songs and was heard by a book publisher who listened to it with her children. Years later, she approached me to write it as a book. So, that’s how I made the jump from writing songs for television to writing books. And now look where we are!

How important do you think it is to have live instruments in this production of What the Ladybird Heard?

I’ve done three books of my own songs with Macmillan publishers and I insisted on real musicians. With each song book, we held a performance – I was singing with about six musicians on stage – I loved that! I still do shows with my husband Malcolm, although he’s often the one persuading me onto the stage these days! I do really like live instruments; it’s a very nice feature of the show as it’s great for children to see and hear live music. In fact, when I started writing for Play Away and Playschool it was always with live musicians and with Play Away the band was visible on stage. Nowadays, you don’t see so much of that.

What are your favourite parts of the What the Ladybird Heard Stage Show? I love the songs, the farmer’s song at the beginning is wonderful and the lovely, lively acting set against Lydia’s [Monks] farmyard is a joy.

What the Ladybird Heard Live is at The Lowry from 1-26 August 2018. Find out what we thought about it in our review and visit the Lowry website for ticket details.

Book cover illustration copyright – What the Ladybird Heard © Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks 2009. Macmillan Children’s Books.

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Tall Stories, whose previous productions at the Lowry include Donaldson’s The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom, are masters at it.

In all adaptations there’s a magical element of childhood imagination, but it is quite a challenge for any company to present an animated tale of a friendship between a giant whale and the tiny snail, who saves his life.

To get around this, Tall Stories tell the story through the eyes of a Royal Navy father (Tim Hibberd), who doubles as the whale, and his adventurous daughter (Hannah Miller), who is also the snail. Inspired by the work of Storybook Soldiers, who help British military personnel serving abroad to record bedtime story CDs for their children back home, Tall Stories have created a multi-layered narrative that sees the daughter as a grown-up (viola player, Rachel Benson) looking back at the fun times spent with her dad, building dens and creating great whales out of pieces of furniture.

It’s also a helluva ride. Hibberd and Miller get the audience involved from the very start, moving through the stalls, playing a panto-style hide-and-seek that causes shrieks of ‘She’s behind you’.

The original story remains central, with its ninja crabs, gawking penguins, hero fire-fighters and a super-soaker splattering across the auditorium as the beached whale gets saved.

There’s plenty of audience participation, with sing-a-longs and even an entertaining maths lesson.

As the dad says: ‘A good story can take you all around the world, without even leaving your room.’ By the end of the hour we’ve ridden an enormous wave of story-telling and are hungry for more tales, more adventure, more fun and more precious time with our little ones before they grow-up.

The Snail and the Whale is at the Lowry from 30 May to 3 June 2018.

The post The Snail and the Whale appeared first on Quays Life.

Yet, when Olivia Jacobs and Toby Mitchell of Tall Stories theatre company first approached Julia and Axel about adapting their story for the stage, they were acting not on the hype we now see, but on the sheer delight of a story that has captured the imagination of little ones for almost 20 years.

Knowing how popular the story has become you could sceptically think any live version of The Gruffalo wouldn’t need to work hard to fill a theatre. However, since opening the show in 2001, Tall Stories hasn’t taken anything for granted. This isn’t simply recreating the story on stage, it is a child’s introduction to musical theatre, with the characters brought vividly to life through song.

The heart of the story is still very much the same – a Mouse takes a stroll through the deep dark wood in search of a tasty hazelnut, but instead finds a cunning Fox, a not-so-wise Owl and a slippery Snake. Tension comes as the young Mouse uses her imagination to conjure up a monstrous creature even more frightening than the predators she faces.

To save herself from becoming dinner, the Mouse comes up with the idea of a terrifying creature, the Gruffalo. But as the children in the audience shout back in unison: ‘There’s no such thing as a Gruffalo!’ Or, is there?

There are some lovely moments when Lauren Scott-Berry as Mouse gets all the children involved, inviting them to alternatively fill the auditorium with a loud roar and then to be quiet as a mouse.

Alastair Chisholm plays all three predators with comic panache and just enough menace to be a scary, but not too scary, villain. And when the Gruffalo (Aaron Millard) finally appears in a big colourful, floppy costume, the children are all fully absorbed ready to sing-a-long the catchy, ‘G-G-G-Gruffalo’.

Looking around at the smiling youngsters clapping along I wonder, could there be a more exciting introduction to theatre than this 55-minute adventure of magic, monsters and music?

The Gruffalo is at The Lowry from 6 December 2017 to 7 January 2018.

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It seems, I’m not the only one to have got it wrong. This mix-up is the basis of Julia Donaldson’s delightful story about a Stick Man who gets separated from his family tree after being mistaken for all those things we humans use sticks for – a toy for dogs, hitting a ball, throwing in the river, and a flag pole, to name but a few.

Now a popular animated film as well as an illustrated children’s book, the story of the Stick Man is a familiar one for children. Scamp Theatre build on the audience’s recognition of the characters to get them involved from the start.

It’s hard to compete, scenery-wise with an animated film. Happily, this production doesn’t attempt to; using simple staging which gives the audience plenty of opportunity to stretch their imagination. The characters are brought to life through a mix of acting and puppetry – the actors, giving voice, emotion and movement to the Stick family and the Swan, which tries to use Stick Man to build part of her nest.

Live music on stage adds to the vibrant atmosphere and there is plenty of opportunity for audience participation in the search. At one point the Stick Man runs through the audience followed by a dog, who stops to ask youngsters where he can find him. At once there are shouts, screams and pointing. The scene with the Swan provides another lively, he’s-behind-you moment and the beach scene sees a beach ball bouncing around overhead.

This is a story for every season, ending in winter and the children shouting at the top of their lungs to wake Stick Man from his frozen sleep. There’s even more excitement when Santa Claus and Rudolph arrive for a magical sleigh-ride.

Perhaps because the youngsters in the audience have invested so much emotion and energy in the adventure, Stick Man reuniting with his family tree is remarkably touching. It’s a heart-warming story, and Scamp Theatre add their inventive magic to bring the characters to life in an absorbing way, that makes you feel a vital part of their tale.

Stick Man is at The Lowry from 30 September to 1 October 2017.

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