The Sooty Show at the Kings Hall Ilkley Review
Reviewed by Louise Totton
I’m not entirely sure who was more excited to go and see The Sooty Show at the King’s Hall in Ilkley, my 4 year old daughter or me, a 31 year old who grew up loving Sooty and who spends my days lamenting the abysmal standard of modern kids’ TV in comparison to the stuff I grew up with.
I really hoped that the show would live up to my expectations, given the 90-minute each way journey to get to Ilkley. We arrived in Ilkley with not a great deal of time to spare, and given the sunny day and school holidays, the centre was really busy. I couldn’t find the car park that was recommended on Bradford Theatres’ website, but did manage to find some free on street parking a couple of minutes walk away from the theatre.
We arrived and were met by efficient staff and were told how to find our seats, although we were not shown to them. The show started on time, to the biggest cheer from both the adults and the children. Richard Caddell (the new Matthew Corbett) was not a let down at all. His style and easy way with the characters and the audience was just like Matthew, in fact, if you had your eyes closed, he could have been Matthew.
The show was longer than I had expected, but the pace of it was perfect – the premise was that it was Sooty’s birthday and they were organising his party. As well as Sooty, Sweep and Soo, there were cameo appearances from Butch and Ramsbottom. The script, which I believe was one written by Matthew Corbett, kept the whole audience enchanted from start to finish. The adults were as rapt as the children, probably because around a third of the show was directed at them.
There were all the classic Sooty elements – water pistols, magic tricks and cream pies and mess. Richard had a number of children helping him up on stage and the children thoroughly enjoyed it. There was dancing and audience interaction throughout the show, and my daughter did not stop smiling from start to finish.
For us, the icing on the cake was being able to meet Richard and Sooty after the performance, and having her photo taken with them. It rounded off a fantastic day beautifully for her.
I would not hesitate to recommend this performance to anyone with young children. My daughter has already said she’d like to see it again, and I will certainly be keeping my eyes out for future performances. An amazing day, a lovely theatre and a fantastic show. I couldn’t fault a thing.
Rating: 5/5
The Sooty Show is on tour around the UK until 16 November 2014, for more information and tour dates visit www.thesootyshow.com.
King’s Hall and Winter Garden, Station Road, Ilkley, LS29 8HB | Box Office: 01274 43200
