It is the evening staple for many parents at the end of a busy day and does wonders to help send your child to sleep. It doesn’t matter that the set is budget, the animation is dodgy to say the least, the characters funny looking with even funnier names and the programme is…well…a bit random! In The Night Garden is a worldwide phenomenon, broadcast in 36 countries. Children just love it! As well as books, toys and accessories there is In The Night Garden Live, a theatre show where the Cbeebies television programme is brought to life. This is where we headed the other Sunday – set for a morning of entertainment – and very excited to see our daughter experience her first taste of theatre…
You may have seen the venue for In The Night Garden Live, the so-called ‘showdome’. Large white, inflatable tunnels invading open spaces in a number of cities across the UK, looking as though the Michelin man has been stretched and moulded into a cavernous nest. In we went, full of hope and expectation with our 22 month old daughter blissfully unaware of what she was to experience for the next hour.
The success of the Cbeebies programme baffles most but there is no denying that as the hypnotic chimes ring out from the television set at 6.20pm every night, children watch, transfixed, as they see their favourite character bounce onto screen. This is how my daughter reacted when we watched In The Night Garden Live. She sat on our laps, thumb in mouth, experiencing a sensory overload as a life sized Igglepiggle took to the stage while the voice of Sir Derek Jacobi boomed out of the Michelin man’s nest and images of the garden, Upsy Daisy, Makka Pakka, the Tombliboos, the Tittifers, the Pinky Pink and the Ninky Nonk appeared on the stage before us and on the white rippled ceiling above us.
If you aren’t familiar with the programme, I haven’t just swallowed a handful of hallucinogenic drugs – although I wouldn’t be surprised if that is what the creators had done when dreaming the show up. These are the names of the brightly coloured characters that make up the TV show. I hasten to add that my daughter may not be able to call some family members by their correct name but can recite all of In The Night Garden’s characters with ease and delight.
Around us there were roars and squeals from children in the audience, shouting out their favourite character’s name when they came on stage and did their own little songs. Our daughter didn’t utter much for the first half of the show as she sat on our laps, memorised, taking it all in. It wasn’t until 30 minutes into the story about Iggle Piggle losing his blanket that she began to really relax and started pointing and naming the characters. It was a little overwhelming for her, but in a good way.
The story was incredibly well told with life sized actors in costume mixed with puppetry by some very enthusiastic actors. All in all a fantastic show, but it came at a price. In fact, in true Yorkshire style, my husband wouldn’t stop going on about how much cash we had parted with to take our beloved daughter to the show, brashly telling everyone we met on the way home (via the pub).
Ok. So it isn’t cheap although I managed to get a bit of a discount by booking the day tickets were out. Armed with a code, I sat in front of my laptop the minute they went on sale. It wasn’t quite the same as bagging Glastonbury tickets but picturing my little girl’s face made me almost as excited.
So, if you tot up three premium tickets (which got us front row seats), a goodie bag (brilliant purchase – packed full of fabulous In the Night Garden gifts) and a branded balloon (a big hit), it set us back almost…£100! If we had wanted our little cherub to meet a character that would have been an extra £15.
YES, it is expensive but, yes, it was all worth it. And you know what, I rather enjoyed it too (and I think the husband rather did as well)! The atmosphere was pretty electric (ok, not quite in the same league as Glastonbury), filled with the noise of children clapping and cheering (with the odd crier, naturally). The show itself has a better set than the actual TV show and I rather liked seeing all the characters up close. After all, over the past year since Iggle Piggle and his mates were introduced into our family’s life, I have grown rather fond of them too. The best bit? Seeing the joy and excitement on our daughter’s face. She was buzzing for the rest of the day with the balloon worth every penny (although we went for the £4 one rather than £8 Pinky Ponk one) as she hung tight onto it for days after, running around, laughing and naming all the characters on it. Priceless.
Have you been to In The Night Garden Live? I would love to know what you (and your child) thought of it – just comment below.