There's A Monster in Your Show

THERE'S A LITTLE MONSTER IN EACH OF US THIS HALF TERM AT LOWRY

There is a beautiful surge of children’s books being taken from page to stage, inspiring, captivating, and mesmerising a whole new generation to embrace the magical essence of theatre and the wonder it can bring.  There’s A Monster In Your Show, from the award-winning Tom Fletcher series of ‘Who’s In Your Book?’ perfectly encapsulates exactly how both books and theatre can ignite a child’s imagination and absorb them into the realms of endless possibilities.  This series of books are magnetic to children with their interactions, encouraging their involvement by squishing pictures, flapping pages, shaking the books, blowing on the pages, and imaging elements of the story as this band of boisterous monsters have fun.  There’s A Monster In Your Show is an intuitive choice for the theatrical debut of the book series.  It is brought to life in a brand new musical with original songs by Tom Fletcher, in a production that is fizzing with energy, colour, humour, and a life force all of its own.

As a group of performers prepare for their show, they quickly discover that perhaps they are not the only ones there!  Someone, or something else is hiding in the shadows, teasing the audience by hiding in plain sight.  As the performers are given the runaround by their impish intruder who has escaped from his story, the audience are immediately involved, shouting out whenever they get a glimpse of a shadow, an arm, or the tip of a toe, instantly making this show as interactive as their book counterpart.  When Monster and performers eventually meet, it is only a matter of time before he introduces us to his friends who have also escaped from their books, all from the ‘Who’s In Your Book?’ series.  The children in the audience delight as we meet Unicorn, Alien, and Dragon, all bringing their own brand of chaos, fun and magic.  This group of friends just want to be in the show too!  What follows is a whacky, zany, and exciting adventure that results in a truly gorgeous friendship between the performers and the monsters, who join together to bring us a very special collective performance before the monster and his friends head back to their books, happy and content.  There’s A Monster In Your Show is bursting with life, audience interactions, and magic.  It is infused with messages of friendship and a passionate love of books that permeate the theatre and everyone in it.  It is so true to the ethos of the book series that even as an adult, you cannot help but smile at the wonder it creates, and the love for theatre it surely ignites in its youngest spectators.

This 55 minute fired up show has done an outstanding job in recreating the characters from the book.  Greg Abbott’s illustrations have quite literally been brought to life by puppet designer and maker Keith Frederick, wowing us all with their detail.  The Unicorn impresses with flashing hooves and horn, the Dragon adorably hatches from its shell before our very eyes and gives cuteness overload as it sneezes smoke, and the Alien is showbiz personified as he arrives in his own VIP flying saucer and has illuminous slime!  And of course, there is the monster in our show, whose cheeky charm is embraced immediately.  Directed by Miranda Larson, with puppetry direction from Roman Stefanski, this show is completely immersive and interactive, entirely inclusive, full of physical comedy, slapstick, colour humour, and infectious new songs from Tom Fletcher, Barry Bignold, and Miranda Larson.  The songs are not only full of life but include subtle messages through stunning lyrics and will have literally have you up on your feet, boogieing away, clapping along, and even teaching a dragon how to fly! 

The show is aimed at younger children, and with its fast pace, ever changing elements, and interactive formula, there is no opportunity for their attention to dwindle.  This show knows and understands its audience perfectly and is pitched wonderfully.  And it doesn’t matter if you are brand new to these books – everyone is welcome!  This hard-working cast will carry you throughout, allowing everyone to connect with the unadulterated joy they bring.  Duncan Taylor (Sam and puppeteer for Monster), Eloise Hare (Alex and puppeteer for Unicorn and Dragon), Brian Maitland (Ben and puppeteer for Alien), William Huke as Charlie, and Izzy Hollis who assists with all puppets, are an absolute delight in their respective roles, and not only entertain perhaps the most difficult critics the world has in young children, but even manage to bring out the inner child in many a world weary adult too.  All the book characters are utterly adorable and just want to be a part of the show.  With a DJ rapping alien, flying dragon, sassy unicorn, and a trumpet playing monster – who can resist.  The monster is so fabulous, with an adorable voice and cheeky charm, making even the adults laugh with lines such as “Don’t touch me Charlie!  I don’t know where you’ve been!”  They give the gift of all ages connecting as one, existing solely in the moment, and creating core memories for years to come.  The show also tackles tricky topics in such an uncomplicated way, such as dealing with big emotions through ‘worry gremlins.’  Giving these feelings a character, feelings that young children may not always know the words for, is such a beautiful way to enable children to emote when words fail.

With colourful boxes dominating the set, perfect for cheeky monsters and friends to hide in, and plenty of book shelves for these characters to spring to life from, disco lights, multicoloured changing lights, bold block colours, puppets, songs, dancing, and plenty of opportunity for interaction, this is a dazzling sensory show that ticks just about every box to make it a huge hit!  I have been told repeatedly that this is one of the best shows out there for children, and I have to say I wholeheartedly agree.  The theatre was completely alive with the excitement, curiosity, and the wonderment of children, and to be honest, adults alike, encouraging everyone in the Quays Theatre to be suspend disbelief and believe in a world where books can come alive!  It is a show that brings you joy and happiness gift wrapped in the shape of a blue monster.  And perhaps it makes us question, what makes someone a monster?  Because this one isn’t scary at all.  He just wants to be included.  Maybe in that case, there’s a little monster in each and everyone of us.       

WE SCORE THERE'S A MONSTER IN YOUR SHOW...