The Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield – runs until 30th March 2024
Reviewed by Sophie Dodworth
5*****
The majority of parents will know about Bluey, it’s a huge hit TV show, made in Australia with some fantastic characters. In fact, most parents will probably tell you that they would watch Bluey, even if the kids were not awake! It’s a common joke that this show is aimed more at the parents, than the little ones. It has a reputation for having some real deep and meaningful undercurrents, in each episode (including this stage version), teamed with a lot of laughter.
In this show we find Dad drawn towards sitting on the bean bag, looking at his phone, and not really wanting to play with the kids. He is trying everything he can to stay there, even concealing his phone behind a book he is pretending to read! The kids just want him to play with them. Eventually Bingo hides her dads phone, under instruction from Bluey, and we follow the search for it.
The whole cast work extremely hard on the stage and it’s admirable to watch, as they are working with pre-recorded vocals for all the puppets. Usually the vocal aspect would be live from the actors, but not one made a sound. Staying engaged and looking engaged must be a little laborious maybe at times, so hats off to them all. Maybe, being in the audience you may be a little disappointed at the fact that things are recorded but actually, it added to the authenticity.
The set was really well thought out, for small eyes to be able to see from the auditorium. The lighting was super effective and really enhanced some moments, like the funny dance section where everything was very loud, including the lights. Well done to head of lighting Liam Search.
I am sure that many parents who are theatre lovers will agree, that when your little one comes to see a show with you, you are getting just as much enjoyment from the smiles on their faces as you are the performance, if not more. Well, this show will give you that; Bluey’s Big Play is potentially the best kids show that has been on at the Sheffield Lyceum in a long while, go see it if you can, 50 minutes of heart-warming fun and giggles