Press tickets for review

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There’s a knock at the door, who can it be? We’d better open up the door and see…

It’s a big, furry, stripy… ROAR!

Yes, it’s hard to believe, it’s true. But it happened to me and you. They opened the door and what did they see? The Tiger Who Came to Tea at Curve Theatre until 05 August 2023!

I don’t think I can honestly say that I’ve seen a story book come to life in such a beautifully true way as what was executed by The Tiger Who Came to Tea. The story jumps out of the page and onto the stage. It is magical, it is wonderful, it is a comfort show and a gentle hand to take toddlers to a play.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea is one of Britain’s most adored books. It’s a household name and it’s a staple storybook for toddlers. Adapted and directed by David Wood OBE, this Olivier award nominated production is at Curve Theatre this week to invite youngsters to be inspired, to learn and to believe in the magic.

Although most advertised to the preschoolers, this show is great for younger toddlers too. For reference, our daughter will be 2 in October and she thoroughly enjoyed it. It is very much a gentle show and very much silly as opposed to scary.

A few followers asked us about the suitability for their younger children, so I thought it would be perfect to include this here too for others who might be umm’ing and ahh’ing!

You will see a full-sized adult dressed as the tiger. The tiger is in no way ferocious or intimidating. The studio theatre was relatively full at the 2pm showing on Monday, but we did not hear one child cry throughout the whole performance and there were a great range of ages there from young babies to primary school children.

The tiger does eat and drink everything in the house, as the story dictates. There is some great stage magic to make the props disappear. With this, there does come some gobble and guzzling sounds through the speakers which is quite loud. This did put our daughter on edge a little but she soon settled.

The tiger does gesture hunger and begins to slow motion that he is going to eat the kitty. Instead, he then cuddles and strokes it. Some children were shouting “NOOO” here but then switched to “Aww”. Again, it is a very brief moment. The tiger is more comical and daft than anything else!

There is plenty of audience participation in this show. It’s truly giving mini panto. There’s plenty of opportunities in the 55 minutes running time to get up and dance, sing and shout so fidgeting bums need not worry!

Join in with “tick tock” and the counting the hours. Join in with Sausage, chips and Ice-Cream and join in with learning the tiger dance. There is so much dancing and shouting during the show that the time just flies by. It’s also noted that it is a family show too so theatre etiquette isn’t too much of a thing.

“THAT’S NOT A CAR, THAT’S JUST YOUR HOUSE YOU MOVED THE CHAIRS, SOPHIE”. Was perhaps one of my favourite things shouted out by one of the children. What I loved is that they can decipher that the car isn’t a car, but the set is definitely their house and the actress playing Sophie is Sophie.

It reminded me of somebody complaining in a different show that the characters were puppets and not animatronics so their “child wouldn’t believe it”. Children will believe the magic. Every time I go to the theatre, I see it. I see them believe it all because even in the moments they don’t believe a little part, they believe the rest of it.

Related note… shoutout to cast during family shows because they must hear some hilarious things on their run but just maintain composure!

We had recently seen Millie Robins as wicked stepsister in the De Montfort Hall pantomime and she was brilliant. She has now shown absolute RANGE as Sophie. She was sweet spoken, adorable and believable as a little girl. The children in the audience adored her. There was one child behind us who was truly enamoured “HI SOPHIE! SOPHIE, I LIKE YOUR DRESS! SOPHIE AND I LIKE YOUR DADDY. AND YOUR MUMMY”. Truly adorable.

There is heaps of comedy from Ben Stone as Daddy, Postman, Milkman and Tiger. He is soo silly that he makes the parents laugh too. I found myself laughing so much more than I had expected. I loved his Postman walk and his Mary Poppins jacket for the milkman. He is just silly, silly, SILLY!

Mummy finishes off the trio with a balanced and kind energy from Katie Tripp. She takes the children’s hands and leads them into theatre with a soft spoken and calming demeanour inviting children to join in and feel comfortable.

Embrace your inner tiger and have ALL the laughs this rainy week at Curve Theatre.

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Curve Theatre, Leicester 31 JUL – 05 AUG

55 minutes no interval.