The Keepers Daughter Present A Christmas Carol At Biddy’s Tea Room – Norwich!
Immersive theatre for children is a bit of a thing for me! I blooming love it (as you will have gathered if you’ve been reading any of my theatre reviews lately) and anything a little bit different and a smidge more friendly than a huge theatre for a child is right up my street. I don’t personally find taking my children to a big theatre a daunting experience. We are seasoned visitors to all performance and my little people have all been taken to anything and everything going since they were babies but I do know that friends find it difficult and as a result they simply don’t go. In step theatre companies like The Keeper’s Daughter, with their novel way of portraying popular stories in a non threatening and easy atmosphere and you’ve simply no excuses!
A Christmas Carol is their latest production and it’s held in none other than a tiny tea room in Norwich called Biddy’s (as well as at Biddy’s sister cafe in Aylsham). Yes, a tea room cafe. Not a stage. Not an auditorium. A tea room where they serve delicious cake and pots of thick brew – NOW you’re talking! And as you sit with a minced pie and a glass of mulled apple juice (all part and parcel of your theatre ticket), two actors, JUST TWO, take you on the journey that Ebenezer Scrooge embarks upon to find that really he loves Christmas and is a decent fellow after all! Florence JUST played Ebenezer in her school play so we know the story well (I mean I do of course, but now the children do too) and this was a PERFECT portrayal in a really enlightening and fun atmosphere. I’m up for any kind of performance and this is something else!
We LOVED it! SO interesting, so immersive with the actors bringing the children (and the adults) into the tale and SO imaginative. Lots of quirks and laughs and very clever performance make this a brilliant watch for all gaes but I was surprised that at our show we had the only children in the bunch. Norfolk is CRYING out for theatre for families like this and perhaps the reason children were not present in abundance is because we are so used to that? But… It’s coming up peops and with companies like this one and the All In Theatre company who are producing ‘My First Panto’ at The Garage this season, we are very definitely on the up! The Keeper’s Daughter’s portrayal of A hristmas Carol is PERFECT for kids of all ages, I’d say right up to teens and clearly the adults in the audience were loving it too! I think at £10 a ticket for adults and £7 for under 14s is an absolute steal of a price and you don’t come away so much as feeling like you’ve watched a performance more like you’ve made some friends! Also there IS the added bonus of eating the best mince pie you’ve ever tasted. No… Seriously, the BEST mince pie EVER! The you see Biddy’s do have cakes a cut above don’t they…
The Keeper’s Daughter you’ve done yourself very proud indeed and you’ve done Norwich proud too. I am MORE than happy to be proved wrong that Norwich doesn’t have an excellent children’s theatre scene when companies like you come along to show me, more than happy indeed! Keep up the good work and keep bringing us productions like this please!
A Christmas Carol is showing Monday to Thursday next week at Biddy’s Tea Room in Norwich at 6.30pm and 8.30pm. It’s on at Biddy’s, Aylsham on Sunday the 23rd at 1.30pm and 4.00pm and the Aylsham venue has wheelchair access. BRAVO!
We were invited to see the show as guests of the theatre company.
Follow