Today we traveled to London
To Troubadour White City Theatre
We were off to see
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show
This is a wonderful theatre show
For young children
Fans of Eric Carle’s wonderful stories
The production tells four favourite stories
From the rainbow world of Eric Carle
Brown Bear Brown Bear
10 Rubber Ducks
The Very Lonely Firefly
And, of course
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The stories were told with music, movement and truly magnificent puppetry
The three performers and puppeteers
Gave a masterclass in sensory storytelling
In bringing books to life through play
The production was visually stunning
A simple set bathed in colour and light
We were so excited when we took our seats
To find ourselves caught up in the end pages of
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
We could not wait for the show to start
The first story told was a family favourite
As the storyteller picked up the book and began to read
We all focused on him
And so only slowly started to notice the large bear puppet walking on to stage
There were audible gasps of delight from all around
As the bear seemingly walked on to the stage from the pages of the book
We were all hooked!
Was Esther and William’s favourite story for years
It was the first book we all knew off by heart
The story we used to recite in the car
Or whenever the twins needed amusing or calming
I found it very emotional to see the animals brought to life on stage
It was wonderful to watch the animals interacting with the puppeteers
The audience and each other
It was really very clever
The puppets were magnificent
True to the wonderful illustrations of Eric Carle
Their movement and that of the puppeteers was entrancing
The whole show felt like a magical explosion of colour
I have come away feeling inspired
With a whole host of ideas for developing our own story reading
And bookish play
10 Rubber Ducks is a current favourite book of ours
Of Edie’s
One that I cannot wait to read again
Now I have seen the show on stage
A brilliant book for bringing to life through play
A brilliant book for learning about position and direction
A brilliant story for learning about different animals
The story was told brilliantly with puppets and actual rubber ducks
The Very Lonely Firefly
Was a new story for us
But I really liked it and have ordered the book for home
As the sun sets a little firefly is born
The very lonely firefly sets off into the darkening sky
Flashing its light as it searches for other fireflies
It sees many lights – including a light bulb, headlights
The reflecting eyes of a dog, cat and owl
And finally some fireworks glittering and shimmering
Until at last it finds the firefly friends it was looking for
Lots of lovely language in this story to be explored through play
Eric Carle’s stories
Tell of real life magic in the the natural world
The light of fireflies
The colour changing chameleon
The change from caterpillar to butterfly …
… The whole stage show was filled with awe and wonder
Inspired by the classic children’s books
And the world of Eric Carle
The final story was the one many of the youngest theatre goers had been waiting for
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
It was brilliant
Amazing puppets
Simple but stunning staging
We were all joining in with the repeated refrains
And counting the foods
This is such a well known much loved story for so many
It was brilliant to see it live on stage
And to see so many little faces gazing in adoration
Such a simple story
Of a caterpillar who eats and eats and eats
ALL the food
Until he becomes a butterfly
Real life magic
With all the colours of the rainbow
How can you not love it?
Recently I read somewhere
That a good children’s book
Is a good book
It is a good book not just for children
That is how I feel about children’s theatre
This was a stunning piece of theatre
Yes it is a wonderful introduction to theatre for our littlest of people
But it is not just for children
This was not a brilliant children’s show
It was a brilliant show for all
So good that we are hoping to go again
With our Edie
It was too far for her to travel today
But in autumn the show comes closer to home
And we are going to go again
“We have eyes, and we’re looking at stuff all the time, all day long. And I just think that whatever our eyes touch should be beautiful, tasteful, appealing, and important.” Eric Carle
I think The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show
Ticks all the boxes
And the talent of the cast and crew should be celebrated
If you would like to see what the fuss is all about
Keep your eyes on my Instagram
Where I will be giving away an amazing prize bundle
Including tickets to see the #caterpillarshow when it goes on tour
We were given our tickets for the production in return for an honest review