From the number one bestseller, David Walliams comes to a great story that has been adapted into a lovely theatre show. It is an explosively funny space adventure about two fat hippos with one enormous dream.
Who can make it to the moon first?
The First Hippo on the Moon was playing at The Churchill Theatre and is sure to return soon. As of March 2018, it is still touring the London theatre scene. 3….. 2……. 1…… and off they go to the moon. Who will get there first?
Behind the story:
David Walliams has taken the world by storm, and his brilliantly funny stories are adored by children worldwide. Most importantly, he has achieved unprecedented critical acclaim and quickly developed a reputation as a natural successor to Roald Dahl. His books have been translated into over 45 languages and sold over 9.5 million copies in the UK alone.
Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell have created the puppets for The First Hippo on the Moon. They have previously collaborated on War Horse and The Lorax. What is it about? Firstly, the story follows Sheila, the jungle hippo who builds a rocket with the help of her jungle friends. With her friends’ help, Alice Bounce wants to be the first hippo on the moon.
Her character is a pretty simple one. Laboured collects several bits of poo from the animals on stage and from audience members for the rocket’s firing. As a result, this makes for an hour of reasonably interesting children’s theatre. The most memorable thing is the wordplay. This is where the hippoclock news plays on a TV, and Sheila becomes a hipponaut. All the animals cheer, they say: “Hip Hip Hippo”. This meant that many children got excited about the theatre.
What did I think overall?
What makes this great is that is a typical David Walliams type of story. This makes it Funny. We all know David Walliams is renowned for his comedy, so I was interested to see how, as well as if he could pull off entertaining children to go beside us, adults.
Initially, when I saw The First Hippo On The Moon advertised, I had to get it booked. This made me excited, and I couldn’t wait to get there and see how it would work as a children’s theatre show.
The auditorium offered an intimate and relaxed setting, and was lucky to be where we could sit. This then enables to have seats close to the stage. This meant it was more beneficial for the monkey.
As she has not had a very long concentration span and has autism, with possible ADHD, it’s hard to know if I’ll have to take her out of the show. The stage was set up, and it felt like we were in the jungle.
Therefore it made a good show. I loved the three types of variations used: on-stage human-sized puppets, mini puppets for the moon scene, and television puppets. Therefore I was very impressed with how three people could master and stay in sync with the monkey’s movements, and Evie had fun dancing to some of Sheila’s songs. Therefore, it felt there was a strong message performed by Les Petits Children’s Theatre.
Also, by David Walliams himself. Ultimately he helped the younger generation believe they can have a dream and keep reaching for it. As always, David Walliams has a few more theatre productions going on, and I am honestly looking forward to getting a chance to see
To find out more about David Walliams HERE
Have you seen any of David Williams Children’s theatre shows in London? If you have, let me know what you think in the comments below!
