Hull Truck Theatre – until 4th January 2026
Reviewed by Dawn Bennett
5*****
Hull Truck Theatre presents The Little Mermaid written and directed by Tom Saunders. This is an ideal introduction to the world of theatre it is aimed at three- to six-year-olds and is a really lovely show. It’s an hour long and it kept the young audience around me enthralled from beginning to end. We had a brightly coloured set and costumes (designed by Alexandrea Hopkin-Spratt), some fantastic puppets (design and direction by John Barber) and very effective music (composed by Joe Roper) and very atmospheric lighting (Adam Foley) and sound (Mathew Clowes). Along with the fabulous actors all these parts came together to make an excellent show.
The show is set in the bottom of the sea and it’s there we meet Coral (Elizabeth Green) a Mermaid and also a Princess who really doesn’t want to sing at her parents’ party. She’s got a beautiful singing voice but we find out that she’s also very shy. Fin, the fish, tries to persuade her to sing at the palace party for the King and Queen but she won’t and decides to do what she not supposed to do and go to the surface and onto dry land. It’s there she meets Charlie (Alex Fairweather), a young boy who is getting a Christmas present for his Nan. Coral sees Charlie and realises that he can’t hear, because of his headphones, that there is a storm coming and poor Charlie manages to be swept out to sea, Coral swims down to rescue Charlie and when she finds him she is shocked to remember that land dwellers can’t breathe under water. It is then that Coral meets The Sea Witch (Alex Fairweather) who is really not very nice and he wants something that Coral has, her beautiful voice, and if she gives it to him only then will he save Charlie. What happens next shows how brave Coral really is but will this help Charlie and what will happen to the horrid Sea Witch…only time will tell.
This show is well worth a visit; the two actors are very talented and played their parts beautifully, there is audience participation and a fabulous story that will keep children and adults alike entertained. This production is definitely worth every one of the five stars I have given it.