The Tiger Who Came To Tea

Yesterday we took J to the theatre for the first time and saw The Tiger Who Came To Tea.

One word sums up the experience: brilliant :-)

J loved it.

It had elements of slapstick ("Daddy" is quite a clown, putting his shoes in the toaster and the tea cosy on his head), pantomime (the characters on the stage don't see the Tiger when he first appears, so there's lots of calling out), and musicals (singing and dancing eg Tiger-obics, which we all were encouraged to get up and join in with). Plus there were ideas which are very appealing to toddlers/pre-schoolers, for example food, doorbells and ticking/chiming clocks.

Since J's concentration is usually very good and he loves music/dancing, I thought it would be ok but he was fantastic - he sat on my lap for the whole hour and was utterly entranced by the whole experience. He joined in with the clapping and since we were sitting just 3 rows from the stage, everything felt very immediate and powerful.

I can't wait to take him to the theatre again. I hope they repeat the Gruffalo soon - he was too young when that was last being staged, but as a great fan of the book, I think he'd very much enjoy the play.