Aylesbury Waterside Theatre – until Sunday 22nd September 2024
Reviewed by Rachel Clark
4****
What a great show for kids and big kids (adults). This show is brought to Aylesbury by the Birmingham Stage Group. The Show is an adaption of David Walliams book of the same name Awful Aunty. It is like you have started reading the book and jumped into it coming alive with the characters. The theatre had plenty of excited children that couldn’t wait to see the show and they weren’t disappointed.
Stella Saxby lived at Saxby Hall with her parents and Aunt Alberta, until a tragic accident, when Stella parents are killed leaving Stella in a coma with lots of broken bones – or are they broken? Has naughty Aunt been lying! Would she do such a thing?
Stella Saxby played brilliantly by Annie Cordoni comes round from the coma and meets Soot a ghost played by Matthew Allen and they start to play detectives. My Grandson aged 6 said Soot was his favourite character as he was funny and let out regular farts !!.
Aunt Alberta played superbly by Neil Foster has a pet Owl – Wagner who is a puppet and as the show progress’s you will see other puppets which were a great surprise to the audience as not what we expected, these were executed very well. Wagner is on Aunt’s side ensuring that Stella doesn’t escape. Wagner’s puppeteer was Emily Essery who whizzed around the stage set, flying the owl round.
The stage set was simple but so effective and very well managed and a was regularly changed by the funny butler Gibbon (Zian Abrahams) – who staggered around the stage and was very forgetful, he brought laughter to the show. There was also plenty of giggles and laughter when Soot and Stella play a few tricks on the Awful Aunt. Well worth a visit to this refreshing show with the great sense of humour from the book.