This egg-cellent Christmas show is totally roar-some
THE DINOSAUR WHO CAME FOR CHRISTMAS AT THE GUILDHALL THEATRE
“A CHRISTMAS adventure like never before” goes one of the songs from The Dinosaur Who Came for Christmas.
And that is certainly true, not least because the little troupe the Babbling Vagabonds have once again come up with their very own story for their Christmas show, complete with their own songs, as they have done for the last few years at Derby’s tiny Guildhall Theatre.
Produced in association with Derby Live, this lovely little show is a great alternative to the big block-busting pantos, in the compact and bijou surroundings of this theatre with a much more up-close and intimate feel. And because there are not many seats here, the cast welcome everyone before the show, walking up the aisles and chatting to the audience before they get going.
The cast are just four, who play all the characters between them, and the production we saw had an additional person on stage signing all the dialogue so that hard-of-hearing families could enjoy the show too.
The story is about a super-heroloving boy, PJ, played by Mark Roberts, who is lonely but meets neighbour Belinda (Emily Vinnicombe), who loves playing the super hero – Super Pooper Scooper Girl to be precise.
She takes him to a nearby rubbish dump to play, where he finds a hard old football to take home to make a helmet. She tells him to keep it warm to soften up.
In the night, PJ is woken by crackling sounds, and out hatches a little dinosaur – a cute green furry hand-held puppet that has every one saying “aaahh”.
In the morning he’s gone, cue some “It’s behind you” opportunities in the search for the creature. Turns out it’s a fan of sprouts for it’s breakfast, which has a certain side effect – a huge and loud breaking of wind which has all the children howling with laughter. Big burps as well.
PJ and Belinda agree to take it back to the dump, but they are spotted by evil neighbour Lady Blunderbus and sidekick Terry, played by Phil Coggins and Laura Mae Mellor. She’s a huge dino fan, and they snatch the reptile with plans to build a “Jurassic Park”. They sing “We’re Going To Be RIch!”.
PJ and Belinda manage to steal the dinosaur back, and take it back to the dump, where the little creature’s mum is waiting – a huge puppet that takes up the whole stage.
In pursuit are Lady Blunderbus and Terry with their Sproutomatic 2000 gun, that fire sprouts. The mummy eats the sprouts, followed by a mega breaking of wind complete with green gas. Suffice it to say, mum and baby dino are reunited, and all ends well.
The Babbling Vagabonds are brilliant at making a lot with a little the set is sparse but they things they can do with puppets, shadows and light for effect is amazing.
And after the show there is the chance for children to have their pictures with the cast.
The show runs on various dates until December 30, with tickets costing £4.38 to £12.25. For more information and to book, go to www. derbylive.co.uk/whats-on/ the-dinosaur-who-came-for-christmas