An award-winning musical stage adaptation of The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr has landed at the Arts Centre Melbourne this week.
The children’s literature classic has been adapted by the same team that brought the fantastic We’re Going on a Bear Hunt to Melbourne last year. It’s a magical 55 minute production filled with songs, sick slapstick comedy, troche audience participation and a 7 foot tiger!
The adaptation followed closely to the timeline of the book but cleverly built anticipation by tracking through Sophie and her family’s day before the tiger’s arrival. All children would be able to identify with the routine of eating breakfast, getting ready for work, the postman’s arrival and cooking dinner. The repetition of actions and songs also meant that when the tiger finally arrived the whole audience screamed with delight! It was quite thrilling, even for adults!
The action mostly took place inside the kitchen’s of Sophie’s house and with a little bit of imagination it became the family car and the cafe later in the story.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea is aimed at kids 3+ years but Baby 2.0, as well as Lady AB, were enthralled by the show. I was particularly impressed by how captivated they were because Baby 2.0 is a wriggler most of the time. Here, he sat quietly and occasionally exclaimed ‘tiger’ in response to the action on stage. I think the only thing that could have been better for young kids was the length of the show – they could have easily compressed the show to 45 minutes as I felt the last 10 minutes were a bit padded out.
We were lucky enough to meet the tiger and the cast on stage after the performance. The kids were a bit freaked out by the experience but it was interesting to be on the other side of the audience for a change. Oh, and the tiger’s fur is not furry at all – it’s made of layers of tulle!
Before or after the show you can check out the free activities in the foyer, where you can take a photo with a giant tiger and create your own tin of tiger food.
Lady AB was so excited to give her tin of tiger food to her stuffed animal tiger and I overheard her reciting parts of the book to herself after the show, so it was great that the theatre production has inspired some creative play.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a really clever, fun and imaginative stage production. Don’t miss it!
The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne 1300 182 183
2 – 18 January 2015,
10:30am Performances – Tuesday 6 January, Tuesday 13 January
10:30am & 1:30pm Performances – Friday 2 January, Wednesday 7 January, Thursday 8 January, Friday 9 January, Sunday 11 January, Wednesday 14 January, Thursday 15 January, Friday 16 January, Sunday 18 January
10:30am, 1:30pm & 3:30pm Performances – Saturday 3 January, Sunday 4 January, Saturday 10 January, Saturday 17 January
Auslan-Interpreted performance: Saturday 10 January 2015, 1.30pm
Premium: $37
A-Reserve: $30
B-Reserve: $26
Children under 24 months are admitted free if they sit on the lap of a paying adult.
