We’re massive fans of ‘Stick Man’. It’s a Julia Donaldson story and is just one of her books that we are fans of. We also love ‘The Gruffalo’, ‘A Squash and a Squeeze’, ‘Room On A Broom’… Oh there’s a long list! Her books are fab but I think ‘Stick Man’ was the first that we read and it’s remained our absolute fave!

We’ve also been to see ‘Stick Man’ live in the West End for the last two years and enjoyed it every bit as much last year as we did the first time. It was an absolute no brainer deciding to go and review it for a third year running! Florence loves this story and Jimmy is getting to know it for the first time. Having seen the show in 2011 and 2012 I had no doubts that this year would be just as much fun!

Reading back on my two previous reviews (which were very complimentary) and I can’t say anything is at fault this year in comparison! The Scamp Theatre Company have produced yet another fabulous year with their ‘Stick Man’ production! The children were very excited as we entered the Leicester Square Theatre which despite the stairs is the perfect venue for children to taste the theatre for the first time. It’s small and intimate with plenty of booster seats and once you have your buggy down the stairs there is plenty of storage room for them. Everyone can see, everyone is close to the stage and the excitement building from the children is such a fabulous experience before even the show has started!

Waiting for the show to begin!

Just three actors recreate the well loved story of ‘Stick Man’ as he gets lost and can’t find his way back to the family tree, his stick lady love and their stick children three! They become the dog, girl, swan and all the other characters as Stick Man himself is caught, thrown, used as a bat, a ball, a twig for a nest… All the things which would be ok for a normal stick but he’s Stick Man, certainly no ordinary stick! Stick Man’s emotions are portrayed by one of the actors while a puppet is used to show how he looks!

The music and sound effects are created on stage by another of the actors and when all three of them engage with the audience every child in the theatre can’t wait to be a part of the story and touch the ball or shout to Stick Man to wake up!

This show is so clever, so much fun and with a little bit of artistic licence to make it a bit longer, it really doesn’t deviate from the story at all. We met up with another blogging family, Family Four Fun and with our children ranging from 18 months up to nine it proved the show is for children of all ages because they ALL came out with great big smiles on their faces!

Florence and our friends from family Four Fun outside the Leicester Square Theatre having all really enjoyed the show!

This show, just like the book, is one we will come back to again and again because we simply just love it! Scamp Theatre are absolutely fabulous and they just get what the children want which is to see the pages of their book brought to life perfectly and just as they imagined! The creative use of minimalistic props is superb and super effective, I particularly like the use of umbrellas! As an adult watching the show it’s more than entertaining enough for us too! The songs have stayed with me from the first time I saw it and it took a lot of effort not to sing out loud and along with the actors! Thanks Scamp for another great performance!

When we got home we had to read the story at bed time because we were STILL talking about it!

Bed time reading was of course Stick Man!

Even when we got up the next day Stick Man was still our hot topic so we decided to have some Stick man related crafts! We had to go out and collect sticks then we made our very own Stick Men!

They had loads of fun making their Stick Men!

And Florence’s one, which she spent ages on, is AMAZING!

So, this Christmas, for something totally Christmassy and fun, we say go see ‘Stick Man’! You won’t be disappointed I can assure you! When you get home maybe you’ll also be inspired to make some Stick Men of your very own just like us!

‘Stick Man’ is playing at the Leicester Square theatre from now until 5th January 2014. To book tickets see here.

I have not been paid to write this post but I was provided with complimentary tickets for the purpose of an honest review.