The Tiger Who Came to Tea at The Lowry Review
The Tiger Who Came to Tea
The Lowry, Manchester
23-24 January 2015
Reviewed by Emma Baker
The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a massive hit in our house. My 5 year old son is learning about it next week in school so when the opportunity came up to go and see it we jumped at the chance.
It is being performed at the Lowry Theatre in Salford Quays, Manchester which isn’t a long drive from our house with ample parking within the Lowry outlet mall at a reasonable rate, my stay was just under 2 hours and this was £3.50, but it is also accessible from public transport too.
We got there around 45 minutes early so we picked up our tickets from the box office and then went to find the toilets, which were right near the theatre, we were using the Lyric. They were clean and tidy and finished to a high standard, with plenty of cubicles for the crowds of people that seemed to be arriving for the show. We then went to go find out seats but the lady on the door politely told us we were a bit too early and then directed us to the seating area and informed us that an announcement would be made when they were ready.
We took a short walk to try and find somewhere to sit, by now the place was buzzing with excitement from many young children all excited and wondering what to expect more so from the tiger… would he be a real one??
We were excited to hear the announcement that we could go and take our seats, we shown the lady on the door our tickets and shown to our seats, this was my first time in this particular theatre, it was very spacious and larger than the other one I had been to in there, yet still intimate and cosy and the temperature was just right as we have found the smaller theatre’s to be a little warm.
As the seats started to fill you could feel the excitement grow from the children as well as the parents. Just then the lights dimmed and some music started to play and out from behind the stalls came three people waving at everyone in the audience…. these turned out to be Mum, Dad and Sophie the books characters. They made their way onto the stage and continued to wave and say hello to everyone to which the audience happily responded. They explained who they were and that they would be telling the story of The Tiger Who Came to Tea. The audience including my son and I all cheered and clapped and sang along as they made us all feel very welcome.
The play stayed within the story of the book with the added parts of the postman, milkman and dad (who had forgotten something) at the door, so each time the doorbell went you didn’t know who to expect.
There was fun and laughter throughout as the characters were full of joy and great expression as they relayed the story, which meant even the youngest of audience members could feel involved and follow the story with ease. Even though Sophie was played by a grown woman she fitted the part well and was very likeable. All parts were played brilliantly especially the Tiger, his moves mirrored those of a ‘real’ tiger really well and made him feel very life like.
The audience was encouraged to join in throughout the show even getting up and doing some Tiger aerobics.
A must see family show of a well -loved and well told story, which every member of the family is guaranteed to enjoy.
I would recommend this to any family for a great day out.
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost £15 (includes £2 booking fee).
The Tiger Who Came to Tea is at The Lowry in Manchester until 24 January 2015. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 0843 208 6000.
The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays, Manchester, M50 3AZ | 0843 208 6000
