Theatre / Christmas theatre
“The show revels in the joys, curiosities and mischievousness of the very young”
Using an inspired mix of puppetry and live music, Beasty Baby – a co-production between Theatre-Rites and Polka Theatre – is a funny and magical shared experience for the whole family, to warm up those cold winter days.
Deep in the forest, in a wintry land, lives a gorgeously grizzly Beasty Baby. Mayhem and laughter wait around every corner as three people embark on a wild adventure to bring up this mischievous and totally loveable child.
Here are Theatre-Rites to tell us more.
is needed now More than ever
The Theatre-Rites and Polka Theatre co-production Beasty Baby continues at Tobacco Factory Theatres until Sunday, January 6
Tell us a bit more about what to expect from Beasty Baby.
Fabulous music, wonderful puppetry, a wintry Scandinavian warmth and a lot of mischief. Beasty Baby is inspired by the very real experience of having a baby and the show revels in the joys, curiosities and mischievousness of the very young. It resonates with both adults and children and it’s a truly shared experience.
Beasty Baby represents all versions of family life and celebrates how everyone can contribute to raising children regardless of who you are, or what defines your sense of family.
What is the most important thing when performing in front of such a young audience?
To respect them in the same way you respect an adult audience, to not patronise them and to enjoy their honesty – if they’re bored they’ll let you know and if they think something’s funny then you can bask in the warmth of an audience full of five-year-olds chuckling. There’s nothing better.
Any funny stories of mishaps involving young theatregoers?
There’s a moment during the show when we’ve finally managed to get Beasty Baby to sleep – we get a LOT of very different reactions during this scene. Some children try and lie down with the baby, some children start telling everybody in the audience to be quiet, and others are just very eager to wake Beasty Baby up again – we even had one child shout out very loudly “wakey wakey, rise and shine”.
What is the best thing about your show?
It’ll put you in a very lovely, warm festive frame of mind. It’s all about joy, happiness and love, with a little bit of chaos and mischievousness thrown in.
Beasty Baby continues at Tobacco Factory Theatres until Sunday, January 6. For more info, visit www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com/shows/beasty-baby
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