If you’ve been in the presence of a toddler for any length of time over the last decade or so you’re probably all too aware of who Igglepiggle is.
No doubt his name song is etched into the back of your brain on loop like it is with me. I’m not entirely sure what it is about this BBC show that young children love, but both of mine adore it. I put it down to the (mostly!) relaxing music, the bright, smiling characters and Derek Jacobi’s soothing voice as the narrator.
For those of you blissfully unaware of this show, imagine a story that lasts approximately 1 minute being drawn into 30 minutes with some giant, fluffy puppets who can only say one word, a beautifully pristine garden that gives our children false hopes about British weather, and a very annoyingly unrealistic sense of scale. That’s basically it. Yet I don’t deny that it does have a quaint charm: other than the fact that it keeps my children quiet for 30 minutes before bedtime so I can clean up the carnage of the day.
‘In The Night Garden Live’ has been touring now for some time. This particular show, entitled ‘Igglepiggle’s Busy Day!’ is towards the start of its tour and will be visiting 22 theatres this summer. This particular production involves Igglepiggle going for a walk and meeting his friends along the way. And ermmm…that’s kind of it. And this time it’s been made into an hour-long show. I’m still a bit stumped as to how they did it, to be honest.
I didn’t want to look like the weird adult watching a kids’ show on my own, so I took my 3 year old son and his best friend with me. After so long away from the theatre, I was anxious as to how they would act. It’s also only the 3rd day since restrictions have been eased and I was a little apprehensive about that, too. However, it was comforting that every single person I saw in the building had chosen to wear a mask and the theatre was still taking temperature tests and doing track and trace. It was definitely unnerving at first to be sitting immediately next to a person I didn’t know in the theatre, but then this was the norm until 16 months ago. I guess it’s time to get back to squeezing uncomfortably close to randomers again.
As for the two 3 year olds? It’s fair to say they were utterly gripped from start to finish. Other than to wave at the characters and maybe cheer out their name when they appeared, they were silent throughout, completely transfixed. My son was nervous at first, so spent most of the show on my lap, though after the first minute it was more owing to the fact that he was so engaged he didn’t think of moving. And I got to have to have a nice little cuddle for once!
For my part, the show definitely still maintained some of its charm. The music and sound was all pre-recorded so we still had the enchanting original music and the legend that is Derek Jacobi narrating. They didn’t use the thrust out stage, which was a shame as this means that in Leeds Playhouse the action is quite a way back and the side seats especially don’t get a great view as a fair bit is cut off. This is, of course, because some of the theatres no doubt have proscenium arch stages instead, but it seems a waste of space for sure at the Playhouse and inhibits some of the atmosphere.
Parts of the set were very clever in the way they moved around the stage, and I particularly loved the montage of all their beds at the end, gaining a massive ‘wow’ from the audience when it appeared. The main characters varied between smaller hand puppets and life-size puppets to try and visualise the characters’ movements through the garden, as well as cover the fact the Makka Pakka is meant to be half the size of Igglepiggle. As much as I loved the full size human versions, the smaller versions of themselves were disappointing. Igglepiggle’s especially looked a bit scary and it definitely confused our 3 years olds: ‘Where’s the proper Igglepiggle gone, mummy?’ They are just too young to get that the show was trying to change scale. Obviously.
As well as the actors in the main three costumes, there was also a small female cast who controlled the animals, wore all green with a weird farmer’s style hat and smiled a lot. They controlled the puppets very well, especially the skittish Pontipines, though a little more waving at the children and reacting with the show may have made them seem more involved. The actors in the main costumes were as expected – the same types of actions as in the TV show and lots of impressive falling on the floor for Igglepiggle. Some of the timings of their actions did definitely irritate me as they were out of time with the recorded music. There’s a whole sequence where Igglepiggle jumps on musical stones and they make a sound, and another where the Tomliboos play on drums, all played out of time with the music. Direction, in my opinion, needs more work. I definitely would have liked to have seen these adult versions interact more with the children in the audience, too, even if just a bit of waving. An encore at the end would have been amazing, where they came out just to do a final goodbye. Such a shame as this was an easy way to please the audience and leave them on a high. Saying that….full-on respect for the actors performing in those massive suits in 29 degrees though!
Despite my few gripes, there was definitely something a little bit magical about this show. Yes, I may have accidentally closed my eyes for a minute in the middle of the show (it was very hot!) but there’s no doubt that the 3 year olds were absolutely enthralled. It was just so lovely to see them really enjoying live theatre and being so totally engaged. My only real issue with this show is that it is so expensive! Two tickets cost £36 for what was actually a 54 minute show. I think this is a price that many parents wouldn’t be able to afford, and would probably go a good way to filling the theatres who, along with the performers, are so deserving of larger audiences.
I’m so pleased that I took my son to see the show today, but I advise you to think about whether your child would genuinely enjoy it. There were some very bored and frustrated younger children there who clearly didn’t want to be there. I did consider briefly taking my 13 month old daughter with me and I’m really glad I didn’t. The seats are small and she’d have nothing to climb all over and I think she’d have just kicked off. It would have been 54 minutes of embarrassing, sweaty hell – and I did spot a few parents going through it. Not a fun experience for £36. Three is definitely the perfect age to take your child, and if I start saving now I’ll just be able to afford the tickets for my 13 month old to see the 2023 tour!
If you’ve missed the Leeds Playhouse performance, then the tour will be going to Sheffield in September and Hull in October. It’s worth the journey!
Photograph: Igglepiggle is middle right!
