Mr Stink, a much-loved book by David Walliams, has come to life on stage at the Arts Centre Melbourne these school holidays – a perfect theatre experience for the 8+ crowd.

When: 1 – 9 April 2017, various times

Where: The Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Road MELBOURNE

Cost:  $26-45, book now

The tale of Mr Stink is one of our favourite David Walliams books – it has it all; bullies getting set straight, fart jokes, burp jokes, minority groups and, for this easily moved reader, a few tears too.  We couldn’t wait to see it on stage – and the kids were pleased to note that the stage production stayed faithful to the book.

The cast were all superb – we all fell in love with Chloe and Mr Stink (and his costume cleverly had him in a constant fog of what we could only assume was a putrid stench).  We also loved seeing Raj come to life – he was the comic relief (apart from Mr Stink’s farts and burps) that had us clapping along to his X-Factor audition.

For most of the tale this production was heavy on dialogue and from that point of view, I would suggest it’s suited best for ages 8+ (or those who don’t get too restless).  The show was about an hour long.

We also loved the Arts Centre’s foyer entertainment which is FREE to visit – the Giant Smell-a-Thon and the Stink Police.

Charlie and his mate (both 8) loved the Stink Police – a group of police issuing fines to stinky children.  The boys got quite a few stink “fines” and they also got “deodorized”.  Being 8-year-old boys Charlie and his mate lapped all this up and followed the police around asking for more.

The Giant Smell-a-Thon is a room filled with secret smells which you have to identify.  Children are given a card to fill out and they are given a sticker when they fill the card (everyone gets a sticker.  FYI there isn’t actually a “poo” smell just in case you were worried!!  8-year-old boys have a particular sense of humor… or is that scents of humor haw-haw).

I am sure if you own children aged 5+ you are probably familiar with the literary work of David Walliams (famous for Little Brittain and now the biggest selling UK children’s author to debut this century.  Walliams’ books have sold over four million copies in the UK alone and he’s dubbed as the next Roald Dahl).  I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share this photo of Immi meeting David in 2015 at the Melbourne Writers Festival (when he signed our copy of Mr Stink).  And no, to set the record straight, despite some slight physical similarities they are not related!