Review: Family day out with Not Now, Bernard at Unicorn Theatre

It’s not often I see Baby Girl sitting down for 45 minutes, but that’s exactly what she did yesterday when we had been invited to see Not Now, Bernard at Unicorn Theatre by London Bridge. She was super excited to see this show, based on the picture book by David McKee, and was laughing, pointing, waving and talking throughout the performance.

She wasn’t the only lively audience member though. There were a lot of very enthusiastic toddlers in the room, excited by the smallest movements on stage.

The story started with Bernard peeking out through the sliding panels, and the audience gave a great reaction to this opening.

If you’re not familiar with the book, the story is about Bernard, who is bored and tries to get the attention from his dad – in this case, a cartoon painting – but his dad is busy and says: ‘Not now, Bernard.’ Bernard then tries his mum – also a cartoon painting on the show – but his mum is also busy and says: ‘Not now, Bernard.’ This continues and Bernard can’t even get their attention when he says there’s a monster in the garden.

I was a bit worried it would be scary since the monster eats Bernard, but after this scene in the performance, Bernard soon popped up in the monster costume himself, making it clear that he’s not really been eaten, but it’s more like something Bernard is imagining.

Not Now, Bernard is a toddler-friendly performance, and the easy-to-follow story, fun monster costume and cartoon drawings make this an ideal show for a young audience.

Not Now, Bernard is playing at Unicorn Theatre until 1 May, and tickets are £10-£16. The show is aimed at children aged 2+. On the Unicorn website, there’s a link to a YouTube clip you can watch before going to get familiar with the story

Tags: Children's theatre, David McKee, London, Not Now Bernard, Review, Unicorn Theatre