Stickman, oh Stickman, beware of the…
We love reading Stickman together, so when I was searching for things to do during my time off work over the Christmas period and saw this option appear, I was straight on to it. Stickman theatre was a good excuse to have some dad and daughter time whilst mum was at work.
Date Visited: Friday, 28th December 2018 – on this season until 6th January. We then visited the O2 to watch Disney on Ice a couple of days after.
Location: Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, London, WC2H 7BX
Getting There: Accessible by Underground (Leicester Square or Piccadilly stations), the theatre is a short walk. We arrived by train at London Charing Cross, which is about a 10-minute walk.
Cost: We paid £19 for a child’s ticket, and £24 for an adult’s ticket. Approximate run time is 55 minutes. Souvenirs include a small Stickman bag attachment for £6, or a larger Stickman plush for £10.
Review:
When I first saw this appear on Google search results, I thought Stickman theatre was a puppetry-type show. However, on further review, including a YouTube clip, it was a cast of three performers on stage. After confirming with Cara that she was okay to watch this and wasn’t expecting a person dressed up as Stickman, the tickets were purchased.
The book can obviously be read in under 10 minutes, so stretching it to a 55 minute performance, there was going to be some singing and dancing involved. Luckily the tunes are catchy and there’s a few moments throughout the performance that includes audience participation, keeping the kids engaged. There’s also a few jokes for the adults.
The good sign was that Cara was smiling and giggling during most of the play. Although, towards the end (before Santa pops out) she was starting to get a little restless and needed a quick snack. The three performers were great and obviously talented. I cannot imagine that it is easy to perform in front of people, let alone a theatre full of kids. The other families around us seemed to enjoy it as well, so it’s a great way to bring the book alive and introduce the kids to theatre.
Other attractions:
We arrived about 90-minutes earlier than our 12:15pm show. As Cara needed to use the loo, we headed to the nearby McDonald’s to use the facilities and also grab a light pre-theatre ‘snack’. However, there are other things to do while you wait for Stickman theatre doors to open, including:
- Lego Store – Lego’s flagship London store, it has queues like a popular nightclub to enter. Displays include a Lego underground train carriage with Shakespeare, a Big Ben, red telephone box, and a few Lego moles. Upstairs has a few building sections to keep the kids entertained for a while.
- M&M Store – always dangerous to suggest a sweet shop with a wall full of M&Ms, but you can visit it just to take a couple of photos with some large M&Ms.
- Hamleys Store – just as dangerous is a toy store. A slightly further walk to Regent Street, you might be pushed for time before the performance as the kids may not want to leave. So better to visit after the show.
- General street performers – on the day we visited, there were a couple of street performers in Leicester Square. One drew Cara’s attention for about 10 minutes, which was a singing, dancing skeleton puppet.
Tips
- Seating within Leicester Square Theatre is flat, rather than tiered, but there are booster seats for the kids to ensure the stage is visible to all. Ensure you grab a booster seat near the theatre entrance before heading to your seat.
- It’s a relatively small theatre as all the old ones are, so there’s limited space for prams and strollers. Bring a collapsible one if you can to make it easier.
- Although you can only consume food or drink purchased on site, pack some small snacks or sweets for the kids. Cara had a pack of Pom Bears and a small Chupa Chup.
- Once Stickman theatre is over, make your way over to Chinatown for some lunch.
Ratings:
Burn Time: 4 out of 5 – the performance itself is fairly short at 55 minutes (which is plenty for kids). But you can take the opportunity of being in the City to explore the other parts of town – museums, Lego and M&M stores, Hamleys etc.
Value: 2 out of 5 – Not the cheapest of day’s out given the actual run-time of the play. But that’s theatre!
Overall: 3.5 out of 5 – a nice day out, especially during the post-Christmas period where everyone seems to be in a good mood.
Have you seen Stickman at the theatre? Do you have any other recommendations for Cara? Please let us know in the comments below.
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