The Sooty Show Live at the Parr Hall Warrington Review
The Sooty Show
Parr Hall, Warrington
21 February 2017
Reviewed by Kathryn Carr
“Big smiles all round from children and adults alike at the wave of a wand.”
Having grown up with Sooty, Sweep and Soo, I thought it kind of sweet that I could share a sprinkling of my own childhood with my daughter, and with an “izzy wizzy let’s get busy”, we headed over to Warrington’s Parr Hall to see The Sooty Show Live.
Still going strong on the telly box, direct from CITV, the three fun-loving puppets hit the stage with modern day Corbett – Richard Cadell. From the outset, the theatre was buzzing with excitement. Children, parents and grandparents who have all been entertained in their homes between 1955 and now by the mischievous glove puppet characters eagerly applauded the instantly recognisable yellow bear who despite his small stature, burst onto the stage in a frenzied, one-sided game of Hide and Seek. “There, there, there!” children shouted as they extended their arms to point to the elusive star of the show.
Magic, music and mayhem ensued with a whole heap of audience participation thrown in. Ringleader Sooty was cheekier than I remember, much to the delight of the younger members of the audience who were clearly entertained by the long-standing premise of Sooty’s misinterpretations of everything said, complete with some pretty daring double entendres (which may or may not have gone over the children’s heads.) Perhaps on paper, I wouldn’t particularly approve of Sooty and co’s falling outs, silly scraps and boundary breaking behaviour but then, the children find such capers completely hilarious and you find yourself smirking too. There wasn’t a seat without a laughter shaking bottom. Speaking of bottoms, that’s the area most of this show’s humour derives from. It seems it’s Sooty’s interpretation of the kind of things most children wouldn’t get away with, that really makes them laugh.
The Sooty Show Live doesn’t have much of a storyline but all you need is a scenario where everything that can go wrong does, and you’ve nailed it. In this instance, host Richard has been put in charge of running a talent show and guess what? Things aren’t going to plan.
It was great to see children invited up onto the stage and placed right in the middle of the madness. But whether the kiddiewinkles were audience facing or sat (kind of) on their seats, they all had a whale of a time watching the chaos unfold, as well as partaking in plenty of encouraged singing, dancing and shouting. Presenter Richard knows how to get kids going (particularly when armed with a water pistol on walkabout amongst the audience) so don’t be expecting your visit to the theatre to be one of relaxation.
After 45 minutes of non-stop action, there was a 15 minute interval before the slightly shorter second half. As well as a welcome toilet break for many excited wrigglers, there was an opportunity to buy Sooty merchandise, including programmes, £12 puppets, DVDs and £5 blow-up, light-up magic wands. I felt a wand was almost a necessity as who doesn’t want to join in with Sooty and create a little of their own magic.
Rating: 4/5
The Sooty Show Live is currently on tour around the UK. For more information and tour dates visit thesootyshow.com.
For other shows at the Parr Hall in Warrington visit www.pyramidparrhall.com.
Pyramid & Parr Hall, Cultural Quarter, Palmyra Square South, Warrington, WA1 1BL | 01925 442884
