Review Stick Man The Lowry
The Stick Man has found his way to the Lowry Stage in time for Christmas, check out what we thought of this fun show in our review here.
We sent one of our Dad On The Go reviewers Kevin and his three-year-old son to the press event and you can discover what they thought below.
Review Of The Stick Man at the The Lowry Theatre
As we are all busy counting down the number of sleeps until the big guy drops down our chimney, we were delighted to be invited to watch the stage play of Stick Man at The Lowry Theatre Salford Quays.
Stick Man is a children’s story written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It tells the story of a wooden stick who gets separated from his family and has an epic adventure to get back to them with a little help from Father Christmas no less!
I have to confess that we had not heard of Stick Man before heading to the show, but we are massive fans of Donaldson’s The Gruffalo books which are a firm bedtime favourite in our house. Knowing just how much the books are able to capture the imagination of little ones and grown-ups alike I was a little sceptical about how effective a stage adaptation would be but I’m pleased to say that I was pleasantly surprised.
Arriving at The Lowry there was a really nice vibe with people getting on with their Christmas shopping, we arrived a little early and enjoyed a baby-chino and chocolate cake in the mall before heading over to the theatre. It was reassuring to see security bag checks at the door and mask-wearing being enforced for adults at the theatre. After having our tickets checked we grabbed our booster seat and made our way to the cosy Quays Theatre.
The entire production was performed by just three fantastic actors who took on the role of all the characters. The clever costume changes were seamless and brought to life everything from a cheeky dog to a graceful swan.
The actors were so expressive and energetic bouncing around the stage. The main characters were represented both in human form and also as props. Initially, I was concerned that this might be lost on the younger audience but actually, the magic of the presentation captivated them.
This was my first theatre visit with the little man and I wasn’t sure that he would be able to hold his attention for a full hour but within minutes the music had him swaying in his seat and pointing around the stage at the colourful characters.
Impressively the live musical accompaniment was provided entirely by one of the three actors and the sounds of drums and whistles worked well at engaging the audience.
There was even a couple of occasions of audience participation with “he’s behind you” moments and the throwing of imaginary balls around the stalls! With the fun, the silliness and the catchy lyrics the entire show was a resounding success.
The cherry on top was the appearance of Father Christmas right at the end, not being familiar with the story, I hadn’t expected him but he was a welcome addition and I’m sure behaviour instantly improved when we saw him and considered that he was still compiling his lists!
It’s a thumbs up from both of us on the Stick Man live show – back in the car we were listening to the soundtrack and the Stick Man book is now on order so we can expand our library of bedtime reading! The show is suitable for kids of all ages regardless of whether or not you already know the Stick Man story.
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