BPREVIEW: What the Ladybird Heard Live @ Town Hall – until 11.01.17

BPREVIEW: What the Ladybird Heard Live @ Town Hall – until 11.01.17Words by Ed King / Pics courtesy of THSH

On Tuesday 27th December, What the Ladybird Heard Live opens at the Birmingham Town Hall – running until 11th January 2017.Birmingham Preview

Tickets are priced between £12-17, with shows are held at around 11am, 1pm and 3pm (with variations) most days of the week – excluding Mondays.

For full show dates, times and online ticket sales, click here.

Adapted for the stage by Kenny Wax Family Entertainment Ltd, who have also produced children’s favourites The Gruffalo, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Hetty Feather and We’re Going On A Beat Hunt for theatre, What the Ladybird Heard Live is based on Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks’ award winning picture book (Stockport 2011, Scottish Children’s 2011).

Telling the tale of how a simple ladybird foils ‘two men in a big black van, with a map and a key and a cunning plan’ from stealing a farmyard’s ‘fine prize cow’, What the Ladybird Heard is essentially an exercise in linguistics and phonics. And farmyard security.

Playfully illustrated by Lydia Monks, Donaldson’s narrative of rhyming couplets is as close to a song as you’re going to get without singing – complete with alliterated arch-villains and anthropomorphised animals. But it also carries a soft message of empowerment, that no matter how small or (mostly) silent you are your voice is still important.

Previous What the Ladybird Heard Live productions have played heavy on audience participation, with many of the farmyard animals being created by prompts and scattered stage props. But considering the book will take you about 15mins maximum to read (and the attention span of a toddler can be less than that) you’d hope director Matthew Gregory has some extra on stage distractions in his arsenal.

Running at the Birmingham Town Hall until the New Year, this will be your only chance to see What the Ladybird Heard Live on stage before summer next year. The production runs again at the Lyric Theatre in London, from Wednesday 5th July to Sunday 6th September 2017.

What the Ladybird Heard Live

What the Ladybird Heard Live opens at the Birmingham Town Hall – running from Tuesday 27th December, until 11th January 2017. 

A ‘specially curated relaxed performance… for people with an Autistic Spectrum Condition, a learning disability or sensory and communication disorder’ will be held on Sunday 8th January 2017 at 3pm. For direct event info, including full show dates/times and online ticket sales, click here.

For more on What the Ladybird Heard Live, visit www.whattheladybirdheardlive.co.uk

For more from the Town & Symphony Halls, including full event programmes and online tickets sales, visit www.thsh.co.uk

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