caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show

Malvern Theatres

****

Families escaping the blistering heatwave outside for the air conditioned comfort of the Forum Theatre found themselves mesmerised by the world of colour that is The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show adapted by director Jonathan Rockefeller.

After completing runs in the West End and New York it exploded with colour on to Malvern’s stage for two days. Carle’s books have captivated generations of readers introducing millions of children across the globe, including my daughter, to the iconic hand-painted illustrations.

The excitement was tangible as the magical 50-minute show managed to cram in four of Eric Carle’s best loved books with the help of 75 enchanting puppets.

Brought to life in order of appearance was The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, Mister Seahorse, The Very Lonely Firefly and leaving the best to last The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

The first puppet to appear was a big red crocodile followed by a yellow cow, pink rabbit, green lion, orange elephant, purple fox, black polar bear and a polka dotted donkey. The audience all waved along with the prompts and there were plenty of giggles.

Mr and Mrs Seahorse were viewed through a world of bubbles which made the children gasp in delight with many humorous accents as Mr Seahorse swam through an ocean of friends including a Brummie Pipefish.

 

The Very Lonely Firefly introduced yet more animal puppets such as a dog, cat and owl and the fireworks were depicted using string and clever lighting.

As the moon crept along the stage everybody was jumping up and down for the final story and the one everyone was waiting for. We all joined in with “But he was still hungry…” and I heard the word “wonderful” escape from my daughter’s mouth when the butterfly was revealed.

The larger than life puppets certainly took the kids on a journey and the books were very faithfully adapted word for word but it was a shame it was such a small audience. I felt the puppets could have come closer to our faces or even danced over our heads to bring the excitement to a frenzy as bums were starting to fidget.

My four-year-old daughter thoroughly enjoyed the show but she was a little disappointed when it finished so swiftly and the puppets didn’t hang around for her to get a closer look. Overall a lovely experience and pre-schoolers can catch more shows as it continues its tour to Birmingham Town Hall, Bexhill-on-Sea and Basingstoke finishing at the end of June in Stourport at The Civic. 24-05-17

Emma Trimble

24-05-17

Tickets for the performance at Birmingham Town Hall on May 27th can be booked HERE.

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