This week we went to see Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom Live at The New Wimbledon Theatre. I'll start by saying that I think Isla really liked it and if you ask her what did you like best, she will say "The Frog Burp". This is the kind of humour I have to contend with in our house, burps and farts are hilarious to Isla and even Noah. I also know that she really liked the show because she participated when it was prompted and she got anxious when the interval started, asking me "is it coming back on?" several times! She loved that Lucy was in it, the girl from the big world and she's a big fan of Gaston (She managed to wangle an £11 ladybird out of me before we went in to the show.....).
The story is a mixture of a few of the TV episodes of Ben and Holly, including the one where they clean up Gaston's cave, The Tooth Fairy episode with Lucy and there's also a Jelly Flood thrown in for good measure. There was also an appearance by the Elf band, lead of course by the Wise Old Elf who are preparing to sing to the King, at which point Lucy suggests perhaps the King would like some different music for his birthday and a rousing rendition of 'Music Man' followed where the whole audience joined in.
My particular highlight of the show was actually when Princess Holly, Nanny Plum, Lucy and Ben Elf flew through the night back to the Little Kingdom. At this point puppets were used and I think this highlighted to me that I think I would have personally preferred the show had it been puppets the whole way through rather like the Peppa Pig show and not adults playing the parts. This small part of the show with puppets actually felt more magical, as if they really were flying. This is only my view though and Isla wouldn't even have considered how else it could have been performed.
Singing Happy Birthday to King Thistle was the final highlight of the show, Isla loves singing happy birthday! And so the show ended and I ushered a very happy little girl out of the theatre and off for some dinner at Pizza Express. Finally another indicator that Isla enjoyed herself, she tiptoed all the way from the restaurant back to the car, clearly copying what the fairies did throughout the show, she even made me do it much to the bemusement of drivers stuck in a traffic jam along the way.
We were given free tickets in exchange for a review but all views expressed are my own.
