In The Night Garden Live has been touring the UK for the last 9 years and 2018 has been announced as the final year, so we decided to take Oscar and Isla to see the show before it was too late! We were invited to come along to review the show and we couldn’t have been more excited.
All three of my children have loved the TV show, but we felt that Joshua, who is now six was a little too old for the live show. He spent the day with his Auntie and Uncle and had a treat day out. Me, daddy and the twins headed to the Trafford Centre where the Showdome was, not forgetting to bring their favourite characters!
There was plenty of parking and space outside the Showdome, which is a purpose-built, family friendly theatre with air conditioning and heating, great for whatever the weather! As we walked to the main entrance, the kids loved looking at the scenes and characters along the fence. We entered the showdome, had our tickets scanned and went inside.
There was plenty of buggy parking, baby change facilities and toddler friendly toilets with steps etc. They really had thought of everything for families. There was a shop to buy hot and cold drinks and snacks, as well as a huge range of souvenirs including cups, plates and plush soft toys and clothes.
We got handed our souvenir activity brochures and walked through a tunnel, that was full of lights, to find our seats. There are only 13 rows of seats in the whole showdome, so everyone gets a good view. The first 5 seats are classed as Premium seating. We had standard seating and we actually headed to the back, we found some seats right in the centre on the 11th row and they were perfect!
The stage was very colourful and lit up with a projector that spread across the showdome. Whilst we waiting for the show to start, there was music and the Pinky Ponk kept flying across the sky, making all the children get excited!
The show started in the same way the TV show does. The theatre went darker and the sky lit up with stars. Igglepiggle appeared in the background in his boat and sailed off. My children joined in and did ’round and round’ on their hands as the whole showdome was suddenly filled with beautiful flowers!
There’s two shows to choose from, both are just under an hour long- will you catch the Ninky Nonk or the Pinky Ponk? The Ninky Nonk shot out from behind the curtain, and whizzed all over the stage to the children’s delight! It was very impressive as it dashed behind the curtain, we then saw it projected up around the showdome.
The show was full of music, storytelling and puppets! The use of big characters and smaller puppet characters was very clever in the show. All our favourite characters came to life! We met Igglepiggle who unfortantly loses his blanket, all his friends come together to help him find it. Upsy Daisy (my daughters favourite) comes along to help, we meet Macca Pacca who is washing his rocks! We visit the Tombliboo house and even see all ten of the Pontipines! Igglepiggle and Upsy Daisy even take a ride on the Ninky Nonk.
If you have little ones that love In The Night Garden, then they will love this magical experince. And that’s what it was. It was lovely as a parent to watch their little faces light up, to clap and dance to their favourite songs and to wave and blow kisses to their favourite characters. It was a day we will remember for a long time.
If your are thinking of taking your little ones to the show, don’t delay as this is Igglepiggle and friends final tour. More details on dates and tickets can be found here.
Out and about mummy 