The Tiger Who Came to Tea is sassy and fun, he had the whole theatre out of their seats making tiger claws and pouncing along with the music.  Plenty of comedy moments sure to delight the three to seven year old crowd.

When: until 18 January 2015

Where: Playhouse Theatre, Arts Centre, St Kilda Road MELBOURNE

Cost: $26-37, click here to book.

Thank you to Natalie Perrin for this fabulous review!

The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a favourite bedtime story book in our house so it was with much excitement that we ventured to the Playhouse to see it recreated live.

I was wondering how the story of the Tiger who drops in on young Sophie and her mum would extend to an hour performance and it is done seamlessly with songs, singalongs and a couple of extra characters.  The small cast of three (plus Tiger, of course!) were energetic and In particular, the male performer who plays Sophie’s hapless father, a myopic postman and a somewhat confused milkman was great.  His big performance and slapstick delivery was perfect for the young audience, generating lots of laughs.

The Tiger’s entrance after a build up of many ‘ding dong’ doorbell rings created near hysteria in the theatre, especially as he only appears at the doorway when Sophie and her mum have their backs to him.  The children delighted in yelling out, “He is behind you!!!”, only for him to retreat again when they turned around.  This section is a sure fire preschool winner if the audience reaction when we were there is anything to go by!

The Tiger proved to be sassy and fun, deep bowing when introducing himself, whirling Sophie’s mum around the stage and topped off with a loveable cartoonish walk and hip swing.  Of course, it is his animalistic eating and appetite that make him famous and this was treated very cleverly but the props and set team.

It isn’t every day you find yourself among a group of young children enjoying a spot of ‘Tigersize’ aerobics in the middle of a performance, however the whole theatre was out of their seats making tiger claws and pouncing along with the music. It was a great interlude for the little ones who get a bit wriggly and there were more than a few parents also enjoying joining in!

One of the strengths of the show is the audience participation in the story which kept all of my kids entranced, singing along when requested, shouting out when the Tiger mimed he was hungry or thirsty and dancing.  I wasn’t sure Miss Three would sit still as this was her first live performance but she was fantastic and loved every minute, as did Miss Six.  I think it was probably a little young for my eight year old but I did spy him still laughing along in parts.

Miss Six’s review, “I thought it was great. I liked that there was lots of singing and lots of stuff going on and it didn’t make you bored.”  High praise indeed!

I would recommend the show for three year olds to around seven year olds.  It is worth arriving early as there is a tiger in the foyer for photos along with a craft station where kids can colour a label to stick onto their very own, take home, Tiger Food tin.  As always, watch the merchandise stall on the way out although I was kind of wishing I had of relented and let the girls have the tails and ear sets, so cute!

A big ‘paw up’ from my review team!