Mrs McMoon!

On Thursday last week we were treated to a most beautiful piece of children’s theatre! Not beautiful in the sense of peace and tranquility, far from it, but beauty because it was simply one of the most entertaining and fun things my children and I have been to see. We loved it so much we are hoping to book again when its tour hits Norwich and we will be staying with my Mum!

‘Mrs McMoon‘, aimed at 3-6 year olds joined the Greenwich Children’s Theatre Festival along with fellow Worboys Production ‘Signor Baffo‘ (for slightly older children) and the two are now off on tour around the country until the end of May. If you can catch either I would, ‘Signor Baffo’ sounds very exciting, but in particular I must recommend Mrs McMoon!

We arrived at the theatre to be given invitations to Mrs McMoon’s tea party and the children were immediately excited. With crayons in the foyer of the theatre (The Greenwich Theatre is just lovely by the way), Florence immediately got to decorating her invitation as on the back Mrs McMoon has left a note to Tweet her with your pictures!

Excited for the show with their invitations!

Getting colouring while we wait!

When it was time to go in we were already very well in the mood! We sat down on the carpet in front of a sleeping Mrs McMoon who was snoring quietly in her chair in front of us while muttering in her sleep. An intimate space with the audience on the same level as the performer already made it feel like we were a part of the show not just watching it and when it began! Well! We were smiling like Cheshire cats from start to finish!

Interactive storytelling is how I have seen this show billed on one website but I’d say it’s much more than that and with panto esque style we were told by Mrs Mcmoon not to let anyone touch her biscuits (which she’d made for the tea party) and to shout as loud as we could if we saw anyone trying to eat them. Of course Mrs McMoon had other guests arriving at the party, her nephew, grand daughter and sister who all came and went with Mrs McMoon busy in the other room and with songs, laughter and slapstick they all had a nibble on the biscuits of course!

Each time the biscuits disappeared we were treated to Mrs McMoon’s biscuit making song and dance which the audience soon joined in with, including the grown ups! The children loved it! It was not just the appreciation of my own little ones but every smiling face in the room let me know this is most definitely a hit! And of course why wouldn’t it be? Mess, fun, jelly holding, dancing, singing and plenty of opportunities to interact with Mrs McMoon herself!

At the end of the show real biscuits and cups of tea are brought round and it finishes off a perfect performance. Other children in the audience were clearly not first timers and we intend to join them by becoming repeat visitors because this really is something special! We see a lot of theatre in our family, I’m an actress myself and because of the blog we are lucky enough to be invited to a lot of shows. It’s rare I would squeeze in a second viewing but with Jimmy enjoying it just as much as Florence (and indeed myself I have to add) I would definitely try and see this again and again!