Awful Auntie at Lighthouse Poole Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Lisa

When we saw that “Awful Auntie” was on at Poole Lighthouse, we were very excited to see it! I went with my 8 year old daughter and her friend, and we all had a fabulous time. We hadn’t read the book before seeing this production, but we love David Walliams’ books so knew we were in for a treat. Parts were a little scary, but we also laughed a lot and were on the edge of our seats to find out what was going to happen next!

The scene starts with Stella (played by Annie Cordoni) waking up in bandages in a bed in the attic, and her auntie (played brilliantly by Neil Foster) saying she had been in a terrible accident in which her parents had died. Stella gradually realises not everything Aunt Alberta tells her is true, and that her parents were actually killed so she could try to get the house to herself! The rest of the show is about Stella trying to escape the house (before Aunt Alberta finds the deeds or kills her), with a bit of help from the friendly ghost, Soot, intertwined with strange interruptions by the old butler, Gibbon. There were very funny moments, and my daughter and her friend particularly liked the part when they played lots of pranks on her aunt – including putting ants in her pants, soot on her face, and glass inside the toilet seat! I really appreciated the musical store that accompanied the show, and made the story come to life.

The set design was very clever, with it moving in a circle to show different rooms of the house, while the actors moved around the stately home trying to hide from Aunt Alberta. There aren’t many props needed, but they did include a very large owl puppet, Wagner, which was very cleverly used and quite realistic, and at times puppets of Stella and Aunt Alberta were used as well which gave a different dimension to the story.

I would say the show is suitable for age 7 and over rather than age 5+ that is advertised, as the storyline of her parents dying and Aunt Alberta trying to kill her (including electrocuting her several times) was quite scary. The show lasted for about 2 hours, including a 20 minute interval.

Poole Lighthouse is easy to get to, and there is a multistorey car park right next door which, although tight to get in to, is so convenient. The lighthouse itself has a restaurant and bar and the theatre has tiered seating inside with around 600 seats, so there is a good view from everywhere (plus bumpers were available for smaller children so they could have a better view). On arrival there was different merchandise that could be purchased, along with snacks and ice cream in the interval. Overall I would recommend watching both Poole Lighthouse and watching this show, as it is a lovely theatre and the cast brought the story to life – we had a great evening!

Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost from £20
Awful Auntie is at Poole Lighthouse from 21st – 24th March.

https://www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/event/awful-auntie/
For more information or to book tickets please go to www.lighthousepoole.co.uk
Theatre address – Lighthouse, 21 Kingland Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 1UG.