Reviewed by Sandip Stapleton
We took our 6 and 3-year-old children to watch Dinosaur World at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham.
We weren’t quite sure what to expect but were pleasantly surprised with the show and the quality of the ‘dinosaurs’. My nearly 3-year-old son fully believed he was looking at real dinosaurs and loved it! My 6-year-old is aware that dinosaurs no longer walk the planet but when she saw some them moving, she did have to ask if they were real just to be sure, especially when she saw them blinking.
The story of the show is that you have travelled to an island where you meet Miranda, who has spent all her life on an island (that they have called Dinosaur World), that her and her parents were marooned on for 25 years. She introduces you to all the dinosaurs and tells you their names and a bit about them. She was full of energy and was a very animated tour guide!
There was even a dino egg that the kids had to keep an eye on as it was due to, and did eventually, hatch during the show. My two were fully immersed in the show and loved watching the egg move and shouting out to Miranda when it moved.
Despite the fact that you can clearly see the puppet masters, it does not take anything away from the quality of the dinosaur puppets themselves and to be honest, you even forgot they were there most of the time as you are so focused on the beasts. Especially when the biggest T-Rex made its entrance as that was by far the most impressive dinosaur.
Unfortunately, during our showing, a leg fell off one of the dinosaurs but this ended up being a bit of a comical moment as Miranda covered it up by saying the dino needed a trip to the vets. Ever the professional!
Occasionally, some children were selected to come up stage and help Miranda with grooming, walking etc. the dinosaurs, which was a treat for them. We were on the very back row so weren’t picked for this which was fine as Miranda explained there would be a chance at the end for us all to meet a dinosaur.
The sound levels, lighting and length of show (about 50 minutes) is perfect for the young kids and I wasn’t aware of any of the very young kids getting scared of the dinosaurs. I would probably say this show is aimed at kids aged 8 and under.
At the end of the show, there was a chance to meet a couple of the dinosaurs in the foyer. Although this is a great idea, there was no order to this meet and greet and there were families pushing forward so that their kids could get a chance to stroke the dinosaurs. For my nearly 3-year-old this was quite scary as he was getting pushed around a bit by people much bigger than him, which was a huge shame as this spoilt what was otherwise a fully enjoyable experience.
Rating: 4.5/5
Dinosaur World is currently on tour around the UK, for more information and tour dates visit dinosaurworldlive.com.
For other shows at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham visit www.trch.co.uk or call the box office on 0115 989 5555.
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall, Theatre Square, Nottingham, NG1 5ND | 0115 989 5555
