Aliens Love Underpants at the Assembly Hall Theatre Review
Aliens Love Underpants
Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells
10-11 July 2015
Reviewed by Clare Lush
My eldest son Harry and I had a lovely afternoon together, watching the ‘pantastic’ Aliens Love Underpants Live show at the Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells. In the lead up to the show, we read the much loved book by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort on which the show is based, several times. This added to the excitement for my three year old’s first proper taste of theatre!
We had planned to park at Meadow Road carpark in Tunbridge Wells, which is next to the Assembly Hall, however always keen to save a penny, when I spotted a space on the London Road for up to two hours free parking, I grabbed it….
This was my second time going to the Assembly Hall (and Harry’s first) and I was impressed again with the cleanliness and space this venue offers. It has quite a retro feel to it but with modern touches too.
The staff were friendly and there was plenty of space to leave our pushchair outside the auditorium.
Now to the show… The Aliens Love Underpants Live show, by Big Wooden Horse and Nick Brooke Limited, has been adapted for the stage by Adam Bampton-Smith. With original music and alien puppetry, it starts off with the children being asked what their favourite underpants are, and unsurprisingly, a similar theme runs throughout! What young child doesn’t like talking about pants?!
Harry laughed his way through the show which started off in a classroom where pupils were learning about the swinging sixties. One of the boys, Timmy, returns home to tell his mother about his day while she is hanging out the washing. Later, when she realises her washing has disappeared, she heads straight to ‘Pants R Us’ to stock up on underwear.
Pants R Us isn’t a typical shop, with an eccentric line dancing Texan girl with a passion for pants in charge, it is clear that the news about the stolen pants has sent her into a nervous frenzy.
Meanwhile, Timmy discovers aliens in his house and accidently gets taken up to space with them to ‘Planet Janet.’ On Planet Janet, he is walked and talked through the aliens’ obsession with underpants and gets shown their most prized pants including a pair which belonged to King Henry VIII and another which belong to Kylie Minogue! Timmy helps the aliens to solve the mystery meaning of the symbols on the pants and when he returns to earth, he wonders if it was all a dream…
The stage set and the props were better than I expected and Harry thoroughly enjoyed his first live show.
It lasted 55 minutes with no interval which was the perfect length of time. I would definitely like to take my children to more theatre shows, but as these kind of outings are not cheap, it would have to be a special treat. I enjoyed out little trip to the theatre and am happy to tell anyone who will listen that this show is anything but pants!
Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost £12.50 (booking fees may apply).
Aliens Love Underpants is at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells until 11 July 2015. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 01892 530613.
For more information or the nationwide tour visit www.underpantslive.com.
Assembly Hall Theatre, Crescent Rd, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2LU | 01892 530613
Kindly reviewed by Clare Lush of www.mytunbridgewells.com