Review: The Tiger Who Came to Tea brings the book to life for young theatregoers
‘No, I’m not me. I’m Sophie, and you’re Sophie’s mummy’
As soon as we’d exited Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue yesterday morning my identity had changed. Three-year-old Big Girl had decided we were going to pretend to be Sophie and Sophie’s mummy, and to be able to do this we also needed a tiger, resulting in me running back into the theatre to buy a tiger toy.
We had been invited to the stage adaptation of The Tiger Who Came to Tea, which is now on at Lyric until 10 January, and Big Girl was completely captivated by the story. I had been worried about how the actors would manage to do a one-hour show on this short classic, but with fun, age-approrpriate songs and audience interaction that hour passed very quickly.
Young theatregoers helped shout out answers when Sophie and her mummy didn’t see who was hiding behind the door, and the large, furry tiger got everyone on their feet doing ‘tigerrobics’ after his tea. I think it’s ideal to take preschoolers to shows where they’re familiar with either the characters or the story, and since The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a favourite among many little ones it’s easy to see why the interactive performance was so well-received.
I’m not surprised Big Girl didn’t feel finished with the story after the engaging show. Even hours later we were serving Volvic to her tiger toy sitting next to her at the table drinking from his separate glass since he was still so thirsty, and at bedtime there was only one book she wanted to read. The Tiger Who Came to Tea.
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We are going this Sunday! Nice to hear a good review!!
Prepare to get up on your feet and do some tigerrobics! I hope you have a lovely time!