The Hairy Maclary and Friends Show at the Assembly Hall Theatre Review

Reviewed by Louise Watts

The Hairy Maclary and Friends show is based on the children’s books by Lynley Dodd. Hairy Maclary (from Donaldson’s Dairy) is a delightful shaggy dog who made his first appearance in 1983 with the launch of the first Hairy Maclary book. Since then the stories surrounding him and his friends have won the hearts of children and adults all over the world. The stories were incorporated into a stage production which was first shown in 2010 and has grown in popularity ever since.

I had the pleasure yesterday afternoon of taking my 3-year-old son to see the stage performance at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells. I have seen various children’s shows at this theatre and I was delighted to see on our arrival how busy the auditorium was. The atmosphere was buzzing and the children were very excited! We sat down and waited for the show to start.

The set was bright and colourful but simple which made it work for the children. From the minute the show started the children were engaged. There is a lot of audience participation required from the kids and they were happy to oblige. There was an initial issue with the sound which affected Samuel’s microphone but it is a testament to his professionalism that he worked around it by speaking louder until such time came that it could be sorted out. This was a shame for him but did not distract from the show itself and the kids probably didn’t even notice.

The show acts out some of the Hairy Maclary stories in nice visually appealing ways for the kids. The costumes of all the cast were brilliant, particularly the dogs. It was lovely to see the books being brought to life for children (and adults) to enjoy. The songs that are in the performance were brilliant, very simple and easy to understand. The music was upbeat and the whole show had an aura of fun about it.

The running time was around an hour with no interval which was just about right. Any longer and the younger audience members may have begun to lose concentration. After the show had finished, the children were all still buzzing and there was a flurry of books being purchased at the merchandise stand.

The Assembly Hall Theatre is a delightful venue and the staff are always very pleasant and helpful. Parking is easy in the multi storey car park 2 minutes’ walk away. Prices are reasonable and an evening flat rate is offered making evening performance parking easy and cheap.

My son (and I) had an absolutely amazing time watching Hairy Maclary and Friends and I would thoroughly recommend this to anyone with young children whether you have read the books or not. To sum up the show I would say it is absolutely Dogtastic, a show not to be missed!

Rating: 5/5

The Hairy Maclary and Friends Show is currently on tour around the UK, for more information and tour dates visit www.hairymaclaryshow.co.uk.

For other shows at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells visit www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk.

Assembly Hall Theatre, Crescent Rd, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2LU | 01892 530613