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Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales at The Hawth Crawley Review

7 May 2018

Reviewed by Louise Watts

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler are popular names amongst the world of children’s books for producing beautifully illustrated rhyming stories. With some of the most well-known stories including The Gruffalo and Monkey Puzzle to name just a couple, no childhood would be complete without a bookcase full of their books. They are also a firm favourite with parents as you cannot help but fall in love with the characters.

Imagine seeing these wonderful stories brought to life on stage. That is exactly what I did today (7 May 2018) when I went to see Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales at The Hawth theatre in Crawley.

It was a beautiful sunny bank holiday Monday and the theatre was full of families with small children who had come to see this wonderful show. Brought to life by Freckle Productions with a cast of three, I for one was excited about seeing some of my favourite stories being told through acting.

The show opened with an introduction involving the small cast with some acting. I wasn’t quite sure about this and my 4-year-old did ask whether we had come to the wrong show! The introductory song was brilliant and that was enough for me. I am not sure that the rest of the introduction brought anything to the performance.

The first story to be told was Monkey Puzzle, which is my personal favourite. This beautiful monkey who has lost his Mum and the butterfly who tries to reunite them oblivious to the fact that his Mum will look like him as her babies do not look like her. This story was told in instalments and with the bulk of the audience being pre-school children, I was not sure how this would work. It did however, as all the other stories were, told in full during the show. There was extremely good use of props in making the animals. My favourite was the elephant which was very clever.

The other stories told were A Squash and a Squeeze which was very cleverly done, and the Wise Old Man aka Alex Tosh was brilliant. Next up was Tiddler the tale of a little fish who is always late for school. This was lovely and Anna Larkin and Maryam Grace shone throughout this. Along with these beautifully told stories was the added extras of a Saxophone, an Accordion and a Ukulele. This really complemented both the stories and the songs which were simple but perfect.

The best story for me was The Smartest Giant in Town. This was told amazingly well and was completely believable. Alex was once again perfect and got a few laughs from the children when George’s trousers fell down!

The whole show was an hour which was just about right to keep the children engaged. The set was simple but with excellent use of props as previously mentioned, it worked really well.

The Hawth is a lovely venue and it was brilliant to see the theatre full of so many young families. The facilities are great with a bar and various vending machines for all your drinks and snacks. Booster seats are available for young children so there is no problem if they are seated behind an adult. Staff are always very family friendly and willing to help wherever they can and there is a large free on-site car park so there is no stress associated with finding somewhere to park.

I would thoroughly recommend this show to all Julia Donaldson fans. I know you will not be disappointed!

Rating: 4/5

Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales is currently on tour around the UK, for more information and tour dates visit freckleproductions.co.uk.

For other shows at The Hawth in Crawley visit hawth.co.uk or call the box office on 01293 553636.

The Hawth, Hawth Avenue, Crawley, Sussex, RH10 6YZ | 01293 553636

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