Stick Man Live 2024!
Stick Man Live has been a stalwart of the London Christmas theatre scene for more than a decade a decade and I’ve been a consistent visitor to rvmeview for my blog. Itt never gets old, I, and my children (more importantly), love it every year and have failed to see how Freckle Productions could have made it any better – it’s simply brilliant. However, this year it does come back with a bit of an extra aplomb truth be told. They’ve achieved the impossible, with a couple of tweaks, and made the show even better!
Traditionally it has been at the Leicester Square Theatre which is quite intimate and, if I’m honest, not entirely the best space for families. There’s a lot of stairs and being quite tight inside makes it a little more uncomfortable than might be best placed for a family show like this one, so… they’ve moved! The Bloomsbury Theatre is its new home and we think that’s a whole heap more suitable. Slightly trickier to get to, but it feels open and much better placed for lots of buggies. With fewer steps to navigate (and a lift for the small set there is) it’s a far superior choice of venue. The seats are roomier, the views better (we were given boosters but not needed) and it’s a bugger stage meaning it feels a little more wowing. They’ve slightly changed the backdrop in some scenes but largely it’s the exact same show, just in a better space. And a space which allows for a signer in a spotlight on the side to boot. It’s a great move for the show, which continues to be the same incredible number that it always has been!
Stick Man is a story we read all the time in our house, and the live show hits all the spots from the book. You know how sometimes a production, or a film, can fall short of the original?! Well… If anything, this is even better! I don’t read the book without singing the “Stick Man” song anymore. And I read Stick Man with a Scottish Accent for the lead character because the actor we saw playing him for the first time was Scottish and that just made sense. For me, Stick Man is a Scot. The live show formed the character, not the other way around!
Three actors, one of whom is the musician conducting the very brilliant sounds of the show, use puppetry (of a fashion) to tell Stick Man’s story – and boy do they do it well! The way thr story is woven from the oages of the book into performance is so clever and coupled with the song (we know it word fir word and had to stop ourselves singing out loud as always) it just makes for thr most magical show, with another exceptional cast to bring it all to life!
Posie and her little friend had an absolute ball dancing, singing, joining in, and they absolutely LOVED it at the beginning when the actors came into thr audience! A fab and exciting new addition to the start – I was also pleased to see the actual ball being batted into the stalls during the beach scene again – something which was altered in the aftermath of the pandemic but never felt as fun, glad it’s back!
You couldn’t not love Stick Man live from his family tree, live at the The Bloomsbury Theatre from now until the 5th of January 2025.
Tickets for the show are from £17.50 and can be booked online or by calling the box office on 020 3108 1000.
We were invited to the show as guests of the theatre.
Follow