A Christmas delight that brings Eric Carle’s classics to life.

What a treat to visit The Curve in Leicester to see The Very Hungry Caterpillar and his friends brought to life, it was as though these books were born to be performed on stage.

Having already taken Australia and the USA by storm, and the U.K. in previous years, it’s back again with delightful puppets, charming sets and soothing complementary music scores.

Bringing the books to life, the 55 minute long show is broken down into various Eric Carle stories, each one told by the cast of puppeteers which glide and float around the stage adding a certain hint of magic to the tales.

I wondered if the puppeteers being in full display might distract from the puppets and seem almost forced, however, how wrong I was. Instead, the puppeteers added a sense of reactive and emotive acting that drew you in. The children loved shouting out the characters and pointing out their favourites. The loudest shriek was reserved for The Very Hungry Caterpillar and naming the foods that he ate through!

Our 14 month old though was most capitvated by the rendition of ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear’ and ‘Dream Snow’. She was truly mesmerised by the five farm animals, the snowy effect and the decorating of the christmas tree by the loveable and warm farmer. She took great delight in pointing out the animals in ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear’ and ’10 Little Rubber Ducks’ and tried to copy the names of the animals.

The puppets in the show are absolutely fantastic, there is such an attention to detail and can be appreciated by parents and guardians alike. The cast bring enthusiasm and an emotive element to the puppets keeping the audience engaged. The transformation of the caterpullar to the extravagent butterfly is truly a wow moment in the show too.

The production is recommended for all ages, babies in the audience were able to access the sensory element with calming lighting and music whilst us adults appreciated the stage set-up, puppets, and, of course, relished in the natural high of our children being so mesmerised.

Our 14 month old was a great age for the show and loved being in a relaxed theatre environment. She is really loving the theatre at the moment, which has been an absolute joy to witness.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Christmas Show is on at The Curve until December 31st.