York Theatre Royal – Saturday 18th June 2022
Reviewed by Michelle Richardson
4****
Are you ready for a Roaring time? My 3 boys (grandkids) certainly were, they love dinosaurs and couldn’t wait to watch Dinosaur World Live, an interactive show aimed at the all the family from the age of 3.
The stage is atmospheric, with a hint of smoke emanating throughout. We get to meet the very animated Miranda, who introduces herself and tells us about growing up with her palaeontologist parents. On their travels they discovered an island where dinosaurs still lived, and she is eager to show us a few of their amazing finds.
What follows is a journey and discovery of different dinosaurs. As well as the more common Triceratops and T-Rex, we get to see a Segnosaurus, a furry plant eater with huge claws, a Giraffatitan, who is a new mummy and a Microraptor with its resplendent blue feathers. I mustn’t forget the baby triceratops, a true babe in arms, the young T-Rex and the Giraffatitan hatchling.
Each time a new dinosaur was introduced, a child was picked from the audience to feed, stroke or brush them. A fabulous memory for those lucky children, who were all so well behaved and they left the stage with huge grins on their faces. There was more audience participation when we were encouraged to shout out if the eagerly awaited egg started to move and show signs of hatching. We also managed to tame, well to some extent, the T-Rex into behaving herself. All huge fun and a great interactive experience.
All the dinosaurs are puppets, manipulated expertly by wrangles, really bringing them to life. We were all transfixed by how realistic these puppets were, you honestly forget that all their movements are made by the ever-present puppeteers.
This 50-minute show was over far too soon, but afterwards we all got an opportunity to meet with the young T-Rex. We eagerly joined a queue, where everyone got the chance to stroke the puppet, though with several lining up at the same time, it felt a bit rushed. I did have difficulty in trying to capture the whole experience with my camera, as the stage was quite high and I had the youngest in my arms, the boys didn’t seem to mind though, they got to touch a “real” dinosaur.
This is a wonderful experience for those dinosaur loving children and a great introduction to live theatre.