We were lucky enough to attend the brand new musical adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s The Gruffalo at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue. Rupert loved it—everyone, children and adults alike, did too!
We had originally planned to take the train and bus into town, as Rupert loves both, but we had a bit of a nightmare. While on the platform, our trains were cancelled, so we ended up driving. Thankfully, the ticket inspector gave Rupert a sticker, which cheered him up as we were heading to the car. There was a car park just 5 minutes from the theatre, though it cost £30 to park (ouch!). This was roughly the same cost as if we had all bought train tickets.
The family-friendly show is a classic story that both children and adults can enjoy, with new songs and lots of laughter. Rupert is a little sensitive to loud noises at the moment, so we had taken our ear defenders just in case, but he was fine! The children are encouraged to roar and join in with the characters at times. It was lovely seeing all the kiddies recite the story they know and love.
The show lasted 1 hour with no interval. Rupert, who is 2 and a half, was mesmerised the whole time (we opened snacks halfway through). He had his own seat but sat on our lap. The theatre provides booster seats for smaller children if needed.
The adaptation keeps the children engaged, and they all thoroughly enjoyed helping Mouse on his journey. Rupert particularly liked it when the Gruffalo came into the audience, so if you can get stall tickets, that’s a bonus!
After the show, we were invited to a Gruffalo Tea Party where we enjoyed cake, Gruffalo colouring, and even met the characters! Rupes got a little overwhelmed at this point, so Mummy had a ROAR photo with the cast, but we loved it. Rupes has told all his friends at nursery that he met the Gruffalo, and it’s back to being our favourite bedtime story.
The Gruffalo Live is on at the Lyric Theatre throughout the summer holidays until 8th September.
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