If you're reading this, you're probably already familiar with In the Night Garden, the phenomenally popular children's TV show in which Igglepiggle, Upsy Daisy and Makka Pakka have little adventures before going to bed, narrated with marvellous solemnity by the admirable actor Sir Derek Jacobi.
In the Night Garden Live sticks closely to the format of the TV show and is written by Andrew Davenport (the man behind the TV series), who also composed the poignant music.
The story is told through wonderfully manipulated puppets and actors in costume, as well as music, Jacobi's recorded voiceover, and screen projections on the curtains and backdrop. The show itself is a multimedia experience designed for children aged 2 to 4 which successfully entertained its target audience. If you’ve got a little one who loves In The Night Garden, there are few better ways to treat them than with an immersive trip inside their favourite show. It was a pretty magical afternoon for the little ones and at just under an hour long, it is exactly on pointe for entertaining young children.
A larger than life-size Igglepiggle was first to arrive on stage, waving warmly at the children and carrying his red comfort-blanket. The children’s reaction was heart-warming as they recognised one of their favourite characters. Next came Upsy Daisy, another favourite who interacted warmly with Igglepiggle with lots of hugs and kisses.
The combination of puppetry, costumes and projections is enchanting. I personally loved the scene at the end when the characters all go to bed. I may have let out an audible “awwww” and melted inside.
The puppeteers were on the stage throughout the performance. And I loved the way that they were incorporated into the action. Their facial expressions and actions were dynamic and fitted with the show. I especially enjoyed the way they worked with the Pontipines.
The names of the characters are fascinating; who’d have thought such names as The Pontipines and their adventures on the Ninky Nonk and the Pinky Ponk along with their friends The Tombliboos would have been part of today’s youngsters' vocabularies? But it seems to work! If it sounds bonkers, surreal and completely incomprehensible, that’s because it is. But that’s the whole point. We adults are not supposed to understand it.
In the 1960s there was The Magic Roundabout and later favourites like The Clangers and Button Moon. In the modern era, the Teletubbies, made by the same team that created In The Night Garden (no surprises there) seemed to have caught the imagination of youngsters perfectly.
Stick a small child in front of the TV whilst In The Night Garden is on and watch as they sit there agog, utterly transfixed by the sound and light spectacular on the screen before them. There is little in the way of plot development, much in the way of repetition, and a great debt owed to the best traditions of children’s nonsense poetry as popularised by Edward Lear.
Seeing In The Night Garden Live was a perfect way to spend an afternoon. It is fun and sweet. I took my 3 year old grandson and he adored the performance and sat still for the entire show. It was magical to watch his face light up as he saw his favourite characters. And I smiled along with him as you can’t help but fall in love with Igglepiggle and his friends in their favourite garden.
So what is it like to actually “go into” this Night Garden? Simply put, it’s enchanting. It is a clever production and is truly magical.
Reviewer - Anne Pritchard
on - 3/2/19
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