I took my 7 year old son to The Old Market to watch Robin Hood, there was great excitement but I was worried I’d be bored because it’s such a well worn story but The New Mutiny Theatre Company had done enough to make it fun and interesting.  The set was one fixed scene of simple materials used cleverly to double as castle and forest.

Some members of the cast played several roles (sometimes at once!) which worked really well.  It wasn’t quite a musical but there was a lot of music, across a range of genres.  From the haunting acapella folk you might expect from a robin hood story to soft rock.  The cast were great actors and excellent musicians, and I loved the use of whistling, percussion and live guitar to add atmosphere throughout.  Some parts felt aimed at really young children like silly counting, slapstick fighting and a sock puppet which my 7 year old loved.  However some scenes involving the nazi style sheriff being cruel to his soldiers felt quite unsuitable for him, particularly the ending which really upset him.  So I would say it was a great show and worth seeing but maybe not for emotionally sensitive children.

The venue is intimate and you cannot help but get drawn into this funny, playful hippo hunt! The show is very  imaginative and cleverly done. There are 3 characters – two hippo scientists and a hippo.  The scientists are hoping to catch the hippo that has been sighted in Brighton and they demonstrate all the hippo-hunting instruments and there begins this fun, entertaining show.  It has a pantomime feel to it as the children go wild with any sighting of the hippo creeping around the stage. It has laugh out loud moments and myself and my 4 and 6 year old girls absolutely loved it. It is on this weekend at The Warren and if you are lucky enough to get a ticket you will definitely have an hour well spent.  See more about the show here.

Suzie, Olivia & Jess

On Monday afternoon myself and my 4 and 6 year old headed down to The Rock Star Party at The Old Market organized by Al Start and Go Kid Music.

The Old Market is a great space and the stage was set up the same way as if you were going to an adult gig. My children have not heard much of Al Starts music so in the morning I thought it would be a good idea to play them a few tunes, much to my amazement when ‘I Love Cake’ came on they sang along… with all the other children in the venue!  There was entertainment throughout including a puppet show with a fun take on the three little pigs which had the children squealing with delight. The idea of the party was like a mini festival, there was a great selection of music from Al Start at the beginning and the end of the party and kids were called up on stage to mime which they loved. There was a bar where you could buy alcoholic drinks which added to the festival vibe and a shop to buy flashing toys and the like.  In between the music and the puppet show there was an hour and a half to do various activities which included cake decorating, a ukele workshop, face painting, puppet making and an area where you could dress up as a rock star and have photos taken. My kids wanted face painting, and unfortunately we had to wait in the queue for 35 minutes as there was only one face painter, all the areas apart from the photo area were very busy so if you do get to go and hear Al’s brilliant music maybe slip out for a face paint whilst the music is on!  Despite the queues for the activities, Al & her band were wonderful and it was definitely worth going for that alone, it was clear that a lot of love had been put into the organisation of the party.  Overall it was a fun few hours with bubbles and balloons during the grand finale, and the children were exhausted & happy when we left. Highly recommended!

It’s always a treat to go to The Theatre Royal and today was no exception. I took my 4 year old daughter to see Amongst the Stars which is done by the team behind last years A Winter’s Trail.  The show started whilst still sitting in the foyer. A suited man came down the stairs playing a French Horn, he met Mrs Nye Chart , the Theatre Manager who had lost her special necklace with 9 stars on it …. and so begins our magical mystery tour in search of the lost stars. We were split into two groups and each group went with a different character and taken to magically decorated rooms with songs and stories along the way. In each room there were props including puppetry which in one case was used to recreate Jack and the Beanstalk, one of the stars was found on the beanstalk and in another room in a fisherman’s tankard. The actors did a great job of involving all the children and they squealed with delight whenever a star was found.  The motto to the story was that for every star in the sky there was a good deed done by someone, my 4 year old understood this and loved it! The show in a round about way could possibly be described as a children’s murder mystery party – lots of interaction, fun and bit of investigation. There are lots of stairs to climb so you must be mobile… The two actors were marvelous and the children warmed to them straight away, the show is on till Christmas Eve and is well worth going to see, it has a good Christmassy feel to it too!

Suzie & Jessica

Suitable for 3 – 7 year olds.

If you want to see a very entertaining, original adaption of the Wizard of Oz you can do so tonight or tomorrow at The Old Market in Hove. The show is performed by four actors playing all characters with huge enthusiasm, the energy & interaction between them is brilliant as is the show. It is very funny and follows the traditional story in a bizarre, chaotic way.   The show is 50 minutes each side with a 20 minute interval, when I realized this I did wonder whether my daughter would get itchy feet but she didn’t get bored once, she laughed and joined in till the very end. The Wicked Witch, Dorothy, The Tin Man, The Lion and The Scarecrow all appear whether talking, rapping, dancing, singing or even Irish dancing. Thoroughly entertaining and recommended for children aged 7+ Also worth a visit without the kids!