Wolf! At Northern Stage: Theatre For Under 5s

I’ve always loved going to the theatre (hi, English Literature graduate over here) – the sets, the live production – it’s such a wonderful experience. This week we had the pleasure of being invited to the Northern Stage to see WOLF! and I jumped at the chance to take Sebastian to his first ever theatre performance.

WOLF! is a production for under 5s based on the fable of the boy who cried wolf. It’s devised and performed by Kitchen Zoo, theatre makers who specifically create performances for young audiences.

Because it was Sebastian’s first ever trip to the theatre, I was a little apprehensive about whether he would sit still and be interested for the 45 minute running time but he was smashing and that’s because the production is simple yet engaging – perfect for nosy toddlers!

Here’s the official listing:

Beneath the Christmassy moon, under the snowy mountains, amongst a flock of woolly sheep, Jack is bored. Bored of watching sheep, bored of counting sheep but most importantly bored of SHEEP! Down in the village just a whisper of a wolf will cause a panic… join us for a wintery adventure and find out what happens when Jack cries WOLF! With original music, puppetry and a tale you thought you knew.

What did we think?

We loved it!

The performance is really relaxed – we sat on the floor right in front of the stage so that we all had a great view, although there are also seats if you need them. The performance is so close that the actors come right into the audience, which of course the kids love. The moments of audience participation are great too, although Sebastian didn’t seem keen to get up and dance!

On a practical note, the room lights are low but not pitch black and the stage lights are soft and not dazzling. The music isn’t played too loudly and the set design is simple, with clever use of props needing just the right amount of imagination. I loved the puppets – especially Barbara the sheep – and they got a couple of laughs from the adults as well as the children. You even had chance to meet Barbara after the show to collect a sticker and a colouring sheet.

I was pretty curious about how they were going to show the wolf itself – I’m not the biggest fan of them myself and I’m pretty sure it’s because I found them terrifying when I watched Beauty & The Beast as a child (you know that bit where Belle’s Father gets lost in the snow?? Eeessshhh). Well I don’t want to give any spoilers away, but I needn’t have worried… the wolf himself was very cool and not at all scary!