The Demon Dentist at The Regent Theatre, Stoke Review

Reviewed by H Chan

Well wow, what did I just watch! An extremely random, funny and refreshing stage show aimed at children but with plenty to keep the adults entertained!

I was lucky enough to be invited, along with my children aged 14, 11 and 7, to The Regent Theatre in Stoke. I love this theatre and its décor and friendly, attentive staff never fail to make me smile. The toilets are clean, it’s accessible and only minutes away from good priced parking. What else could you need.

We were seated between rows E and F, my middle daughter uses a wheelchair and we had no problems at all accessing the seating and she had a great view from where we were.

The show begins as children wake up expecting the Tooth Fairy, instead, someone else had visited, someone a lot more sinister. It’s up to our main character Alfie played by Sam Varley, and his “not girlfriend” Gabs, who was played by Georgie Grant-Anderson, to solve the mystery and figure out who has been terrorising the children. Coincidentally – the small towns old dentist has a horrendous accident, meaning there is an opening for a new dentist. Enter Miss Root, a tall and rather scary lady who promises the children sweets, free toothpaste and demands they call her Mummy. 12 year old Alfie hasn’t been to the dentist in six years, but his new social worker just has to make sure he gets to his appointment, which includes a very run but rather bizarre on stage chase.

There are a couple of side stories to keep the whole thing moving and I loved how they were all interwoven with each other, meaning that the show wasn’t boring at all in places. My son particularly liked the policeman, who didn’t take the children seriously.

I wasn’t expecting singing! But we got singing! What a voice Emily Harrigan has! She was amazing as the Demonic Dentist and hit all of her musical notes perfectly.

If you’ve read any of David’s books or watched any of his shows on TV then of course you’ll know Raj! He makes an appearance in the show, played by Zain Edwards and nailed it.

With many hilarious moments, which can be expected from a David Walliams story, the show also covers some very real and emotional themes such as the main character Alfie being a young carer for his father, his fathers heart breaking song to his son about how he wishes he could care for him in the way he deserves. Both actors were superb in conveying this emotion to the audience. Not a dry eye in the house and James Mitchell who played the father portrayed his character perfectly. There is another theme further on in the show which is a lot more emotional and unless you’ve read the books you might be unprepared for this. It was very sad, but they finished with a more positive and upbeat theme. I am glad they did this as I could see my seven year old beginning to get a bit worried and the ending really brought that energy and positive vibe back.

If your little one is scared easily of loud bangs and jump scares, there are quite a few of these in the second half of the show. Some of them even making me jump and although I cannot give anything away spoilers wise, I think I might be having nightmares from one of the scenes myself (not really but it was quite creepy) Also if your little ones are worried by some of the more serious themes (you’ll know what these are if you have read the book) they might find it a little upsetting but I feel the show handles it all very well.

The sets were fantastic, clever and well put together and the set changes were built into the show so well that they were never a problem and I loved the use of vehicles in the performance.

We gave this show five out of five stars. You can find tickets here from only £13 each. The show runs at Stoke Regent until Sunday 2nd April.