With the munchkins getting older, it’s getting harder to find shows aimed at their age group. As we said in last week’s review of Romeo and Juliet at Polka Theatre, it’s rare that you come across a production aimed squarely at the tween market, which makes it especially unusual to be doing two in a row. Medusa’s First Kiss is also the second show we’ve seen this month that adapts Greek mythology for young audiences, but this one’s suited to a slightly younger crowd than A Song for Ella Grey. Aimed at ages 10 and over, it promises to be “Percy Jackson meets Heartstopper, with rock songs”. We we ..read more

Hot on the heels of an Offies win for Pied Piper (a Battersea Arts Centre and Beatbox Academy co-production), Conrad Murray is at it again with a new hip hop theatre production for families. Made by Polka Theatre and Beats & Elements (Conrad Murray and Lakeisha Lynch-Stevens), Romeo and Juliet is a fresh new take on the Shakespeare classic. A rare Polka production aimed at the tween market (with a suggested age range of 9-12+) it condenses the play into 60 minutes of non-stop hip hop, swapping Verona for modern day Merton. It’s a great production that has all the flavour of the ..read more

Families who like Greek mythology are rather spoilt for choice this year, with Hadestown currently playing in the West End, and Medusa’s First Kiss (10+) and The Odyssey (8-13) coming up at The Unicorn Theatre and Little Angel Theatre respectively. Also currently out on tour is A Song for Ella Grey, a new adaptation of David Almond’s young adult novel from Pilot Theatre (in association with Northern Stage and York Theatre Royal). Aimed at ages 13+ this contemporary retelling of the Orpheus myth takes the story of Orpheus and Euridyce and transports it to modern day Northumberland. We caught it ..read more

Little Seeds Music is on a mission to create high quality musical experiences that can be shared by all generations. Their latest production for families is an adaptation of Luna Loves Library Day, a picture book by Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho and illustrator Fiona Lumbers. After premiering at Manchester’s Z-Arts in 2023, the show is currently out on tour across the country. We checked it out on its stop at London’s Lyric Hammersmith. Luna always looks forward to library day; not only does she get to bring back her latest books and swap them for a new selection for next week, but she a ..read more

Asylum seekers in London almost always find themselves in Croydon; the location of the Home Office asylum intake unit, and one of just two London boroughs (along with Southwark) offering initial accommodation to displaced people. Croydon is also London’s Borough of Culture 2023, making it the perfect place to stage a re-imagining of Theatre-Rites’ acclaimed promenade production The Welcoming Party. Created in partnership with Agudo Dance Company, with a cast including refugees from Sudan and Ethiopia, Journey of a Refugee offers family audiences (ages 8+) a powerful but playful insight into wh ..read more

Yee haw, Cowboy! If you’re already rolling your eyes at that greeting, this review probably isn’t for you. But if you’re up for a rootin’ tootin’ good time, then read on partner. Bronco Billy has taken up residence under the Charing Cross arches, and he’s offering audiences a little slice of the American dream; assuming that your dream is a chaotic caper across the US with a cowboy inspired circus, crossed with a disco themed episode of Dynasty. Based on a Clint Eastwood movie, Bronco Billy –The Musical has followed its dream across the Atlantic, after an award-winning 2019 stint in Los Angele ..read more

It’s not often that classic literature is presented on stage through the medium of circus. While both forms of entertainment were popularised in the Victorian era, the brash and somewhat unsavoury world of circus feels an unlikely bedfellow for the more scholarly pursuit of reading. But the emergence of serialised novels courted controversy in that era, with Victorian critics concerned about the corruption of the working classes, particularly women. And with authors such as Thomas Hardy pushing against these boundaries, allowing readers to escape into their imagination, perhaps the novel has r ..read more

Founded in 2022, Taylor Jay Productions is a new theatre company aiming to expand from small-scale cabaret style productions to fully fledged musicals. Following on from successful productions on both sides of the Atlantic (Ordinary Days at London’s Phoenix Arts Club and a co-production of Island Song at Fenstein’s 54/Below) their most recent endeavour was a revival of Pasek and Paul’s song cycle, Edges. We were invited along to an industry showing of the production on 20 January. When we hear “song cycle”, Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World inevitably springs to mind, and this product ..read more

We’re hurtling towards the end of January, which makes it time for our annual round-up of the shows we saw last year. (Yes, we know everyone else did theirs somewhere in December but we are not those people!) Please note that if we refer to having reviewed a show (either on this website or for Broadway World UK), or attended as an Offies assessor, we received complimentary press tickets to that show. If we do not refer to a review or Offies assessment, we paid for the tickets with our own money. Non-nerdy types might want to skip ahead to the highlights! But read on if you’re interested in our ..read more

Known for their quirky style and imaginative approach, Les Enfants Terribles are partial to telling twisty tales for families. Their latest production is a musical adaptation (by Oliver Lansley) of Sophie Anderson’s children’s novel, The House with Chicken Legs. The show has been touring around the country, and has settled into the Southbank Centre for Christmas. Inspired by the Slavic legend of Baba Yaga, it’s an intriguing coming of age story about destiny and death. Perhaps not the obvious festive production, but we love a dark children’s show so Mummy and moody tween, Crotchet were thrille ..read more