Earlier this week we went along to Blackburn to see a production of Elmer The Patchwork Elephant Show at King George’s Hall. All three of my kids loved the classic Elmer stories by David McKee and so we were delighted to be invited along.
I’m not overly familiar with Blackburn and haven’t been to King George’s Hall before so I wasn’t really sure where I was going! However it was so easy to find. We parked at The Mall carpark in the town centre and it was less than a five minute walk away. The carpark was reasonably priced too which is always a bonus!
The lovely grand old building is hard to miss. We collected our tickets from reception and were shown to our seats by friendly members of staff.
As anyone familiar with the stories will know, Elmer is not your typical elephant. He’s a brightly coloured patchwork elephant with a fun and cheerful personality. The story focuses on Elmer’s wish to fit in with the rest of the herd. Elmer and his animal friends are portrayed by eye-catching puppets who are expertly handled by the puppeteers.
The show is interactive and the children are often encouraged to shout out the answer to questions which the kids all seemed to enjoy. There’s an educational element too as the performance focuses on a variety of different colours.
My daughter (4) loved the different animals representing each colour and especially loved the songs each animal sung. She was dancing in her seat! The set, like the puppets, was vibrant and eye-catching and with so much happening on stage it was hard to know where to look! As expected, my eight year old animal lover also enjoyed the show. My ten year old often attends shows with us, despite them being aimed at an audience younger than him, but he too was full of praise.
However the best thing about the show in my opinion was the lesson the children took away from it. Elmer may want to blend in but he eventually realises his differences are why his friends love him so much. It’s the ultimate celebration of uniqueness and individually; exactly what I’m trying to teach my children!
We’d definitely recommend the show if it’s coming to a theatre near you. It’s a colourful, musical celebration and we loved every second of it.
Disclaimer : We were offered complimentary tickets for the purposes of this review. As always all opinions are my own.
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Aw never heard of this show but it's nice the the kids can have fun and leave with lessons they've learnt from it :)
Sounds like a fantastic, interactive show to see with the children. My youngest would love this, I'll have to see if the show is touring the UK
That sounds so fun! My kids would love this!
I've never heard of this show before but that sounds great. If there is a show like that near our place, I bet my little boy would love seeing this.
We love Elmer! What a great idea to have show based on him. I would love to see it!
This sounds like our kinda show! Anything that interactive and colourful will definitely catch my attention x
I remember Elmer from when I was a kid and it's nice to know that he's still around teaching kids that it's what makes us different which is why people love us x
Looks like you all had a wonderful time which is great. Elmer clearly is a fab family show xx
I love taking my kids to theatre shows and this looks like it is great for little ones