Friday, 14 August 2015

Review: In the Night Garden Live 2015

Round and round we went on this truly superb show!

Few weeks ago we went to see In the Night Garden Live show, the event took place at Canon Hill Park, Birmingham and was set within a lovely dome shaped tent.
As you enter the dome, you are welcomed by beautiful hanging coloured balls, which gave the arena a child friendly feel (and that is before you even enter the seating area). There is a wait/queue of approx. 20-30 minutes before the show begins, which if you have a little one (under 2/3 years of age, can feel like an eternity – unless they are sleeping).  We entertained ourselves with a complimentary souvenir activity brochure (worth £7) which comes as a package with Standard tickets.
We decided to wear L as I wasn't sure about the the facilities inside, but upon arrival I have noticed lots of allocated spaces to park a pushchair and of course toilet facilities for parents and their children. 

The seating was on a first come first serve basis (apart from the very front seating, which is reserved as Premium). My reaction to the seating was 'wow', the whole seating area was decorated in green felt (I believe), which gave the effect of being in the actual 'Night Garden', moving images projected onto the top of the stage, showing elements of the TV show (Pinky Ponk was one of them) were fascinating!

A superb start and we have not had the show yet!

The show consisted of a mixture of dressed up characters and performers moving puppet style versions of the show characters.

Iggle Piggle was the first to arrive (after a projected version of the recognised 'round and round we go' on a childs palm. The moment Iggle Piggle arrived on stage, it was like a celebrity had surprised us with their presence, the noise from the crowd was awesome (cheers from children and parents – do not deny it!).

The crowd were then treated to the 'Iggle Piggle' entry tune (Yes my name is Iggle Piggle.. you know how it goes). With all the kids and parents singing along with the song.

Excellent atmosphere (and there were only approx 200-300 people in the arena – each showing).

The story was of Makka Pakka losing his sponge (which he cleans the other characters with), which was eventually found in Upsy Daisy's flower megaphone.
Similarly to Iggle Piggle, other characters were greeted in similar fashion, with a loud cheer and sing along.

From the perspective of L, she was enjoying the characters and songs (whether she truly knew what was going is unknown – I guess she sort of recognised the character, but she is only 1).

All of the characters were excellently presented (by the performers) and gave a sense of being part of the show. It also allowed the toddlers to engage and associate with them even better, in a live show. 

The live show lasts approx 50 minutes and guarantees enjoyment for all the family. There are 2 themed shows- Ninky Nonk and Pinky Ponk shows with extremely exciting endings which both me and L thoroughly enjoyed, without giving away too much your little one will have a chance to play with confetti or bubbles.
After the show you can meet the characters for £15 which covers up to 5 people and purchase the print after the session or you can spoil your little one with In the Night Garden themed toys and clothes. We didn't do any of that as L was getting unsettled so we opted to leave the dome promptly.


Disclaimer: We were offered 3 complimentary tickets for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

2 comments:

  1. Would love to take my 2 year old to see ITNG Live, he would love it! Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested

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  2. It sounds like a really lovely performance. I've often wondered how something like this would translate to stage but it sounds like they did a great job. I love the idea of the seating being all green and ITNG themed!
    Thanks for sharing your review on #TriedTested this week :)

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