Things to do: Twirlywoos Live

Ducky birds fly over the sea…quack quack. The unmistakable lyrics and music of Twirlywoos.

With Cara turning five in a few months, I wasn’t quite sure why she still wanted to watch Twirlywoos Live after seeing an ad for it. She stopped watching this on CBeebies for over a year now. However, she still has a little Chick soft toy and as we had no other plans that day, we decided to make a day out of it.

Date Visited: Saturday, 10th August 2019 (runs at Underbelly throughout August 2019)

Location:  Underbelly Festival, 30 The Queen’s Walk, Lambeth, London SE1 8XX

Getting There: Accessible by Underground (Waterloo), train (Waterloo, Charing Cross or Blackfriars), bus or ferry.  

Cost: Tickets for standard seating were £14.50 per person. You could purchase a booth at the back or cushions at the front for extra. There are family deals as well. There is a mini-souvenir table at the entrance.

Approximate Run Time: 55 minutes, no intervals.  

Review: 

We previously visited the Underbelly Festival for drinks, but never actually went to see any of the performances. To my surprise, our first viewing there would be to watch Twirlywoos Live. I cannot remember the last time Cara actually watched Twirlywoos on TV, but she was more than keen to go and kept asking if I had booked tickets.

Easily accessible, we entered the grounds of the Festival on South Bank and headed towards the theatre, which was set up as a small circus tent. Inspecting the queue while waiting for the doors to open, we noticed Cara was one of the older ones, although she did point out to us a few other older kids (most who had younger siblings). 

Nevertheless, we always enjoyed watching Twirlwoos on Cbeebies as it’s fairly educational even though the characters don’t talk. A quick scan of our tickets and we were in. The seats are arranged in a semi-circle pattern close to the stage and although they were staggered, they weren’t tiered which meant some toddlers had difficult seeing if sat behind someone taller. Luckily, Cara bagged an aisle seat so was able to view the stage. But as mentioned in the tips below, try and line up early so you have first dibs on the front row. Please also note that they are quite strict on the cushion area as you need the relevant ticket to sit there.

Prior to the official performance starting, some of the cast members came out to the audience with the 3 ducky puppets and played with the kids. Cara thought it was great after getting pecked on the shoe by one of them. The performance itself was good and kept Cara’s attention long enough. There was a good mix of puppetry, songs, narration and even some bubbles and a large party popper thrown in. It was quite interactive and flowed just like the TV show. Cara learnt about ‘welcome’, ‘pulling’ and ‘rolling’ and was giggling and smiling throughout the show. 

Tips

1. Arrive as early as possible to line up to ensure you get the best standard seats. 
2. There’s plenty to do after the show, whether it’s a walk along South Bank (one way takes you to the Aquarium / Westminster, the other direction towards London Bridge and Borough Markets). You can also cross the river towards Charing Cross / Leicester Square.
3. Bring some snacks for the kids in case they get a little restless.

More Information: Link to the tour dates

Ratings:

Burn Time: 3 out of 5 – the performance is fairly short at 55 minutes, which is good for younger kids.
Value: 2 out of 5 – Similar to my Stickman Theatre review, it’s not the cheapest of day’s out, but that’s London and theatre!  
Overall: 3.5 out of 5 – Overall, we had a nice day out. Cara enjoyed the show and by the time we got off the train, she was napping.

Have you visited the Underbelly Festival or watched Twirlywoos Live? Do you have any other recommendations for Cara? Please let us know in the comments below.