ladybird

What the Ladybird Heard

Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

*****

I never saw the original outing of What the Ladybird Heard in 2014, thus cannot speak on it's evolution from then until now.

What I can say is that the current production at Coventry's Belgrade theatre, passing through on a national tour running to Christmas, is quite simply superb.

It is interactive without being jarring and makes sure to play to the target age group of the audience with regards to the source material; asking the children in the audience for their opinion and participation at regular intervals.

I won’t spoil the play itself but rest assured it is entertaining for adults as well as children and is genuinely good fun. With plenty of laugh out loud moments and some very clever ways of creating the animals in the story, the audience is swept along - feeding off the warmth of the production.

Set design is excellent, with a charm fitting to the story and an innovative bent fitting to the production as a whole. It surprises and delights in equal measure.

The cast are excellent - four actor musicians who are wonderfully engaging as well as talented.

The test of any play for children is how much they talk about it afterwards; what the Ladybird heard is possibly the most discussed play I have experienced; nearly the whole play was recounted with excited fervour for hours afterwards.

Though not long at 55 minutes, the length also means there is no flabbiness to it. It is lean, well-paced, entertaining and funny.

I would recommend you see this fabulous show and I'll wager you'll be searching for the ladybird throughout, just as I was.

Theo Clarke

14-04-18

The ladybird will be landing in the Midlands again at Wolverhampton Grand 23-24 May and Birmingham Hippodrome 12-13 June.

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