Review: Neverland at Battersea Arts Centre for a unique theatrical experience for toddlers

For anyone who thinks their little one is too little to go to a show, there’s now a show that may well be spot on for them. Neverland, a 45-minute performance aimed at children aged one to three years, is playing at Battersea Arts Centre in a sweet and magical tent inside until 16 October.

Baby Boy and I were invited to the show yesterday, and together with seven other grown-ups and their little ones we took off our shoes and curled up under the white duvets in the tent. It was a very different theatre experience, and for me it almost seemed like installation art.

There are headboards and benches covered in duvets and pillows around the walls of the dome-shaped tent, and in the middle there’s a soft carpet, making the space ideal for the age group. The two female actors did a short introduction in English, but then spoke Japanese and French, making me worried I’d gone to the wrong performance at first.

Looking back, however, I can see the languages added to the feeling that we were in an imaginary world. In this imaginary world, Baby Boy could roam around in the tent with the actors and other audience members. He could try blowing pretend leaves while listening to calming music and watching the lights changing in the tent. He could hear rain on the pretend roof, and see the pretend water level raising around us. He could see fishes on the walls and on the carpet, making it seem like we were in the ocean.

And I could see his facial expressions changing when making new discoveries.

It was different from anything else we’ve experienced together before, and Baby Boy seemed to like his unordinary day out with a modern theatre production to enjoy.

A unique and interactive theatre experience for toddlers!

Tickets to Neverland at Battersea Arts Centre are available from £16, and each ticket admits one adult and one child. The Bee’s Knees, a drop-in play area for under 5s, is on the ground floor at Battersea Arts Centre, and when we visited yesterday morning we could have planned to arrive early and go there first. By the time we arrived there was no availability.

Tags: Activities for toddlers, Battersea Arts Centre, Children's theatre, Neverland, Theatre