I ventured to Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells to see ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show‘ created by Rockefeller Productions, with my 4 year old in tow. I am a big fan of the Eric Carle books, having read them with my parents as a toddler and now reading them again to my own tiny human.

I saw the show a few years ago and thought it was magical but having heard a new story (‘The Very Busy Spider’) had been added, I was keen to see it again and experience the magic through my child’s eyes.

When entering the theatre, there was a wonderful buzz of excitement from so many little faces, many of them, experiencing their first visit to the theatre. I was disappointed not to see any merchandise as I was hoping to buy the new story but at least I saved myself a few pounds. Unfortunately, there were also no programmes available and little information on the website with regards to the creative team, so I am sadly unable to credit them.

The thing that I really struggled with in this show were the performances, which perhaps come from the direction. There can be a tendency with children’s theatre to dumb down, patronise and over perform with wide eyes and a sickly sweet smile on your face, rather than just tell the story. Eric Carle’s books are beautiful and simple with some heartfelt meanings and messages, and all they need is to be told with an open expression and honesty (bear in mind they were written with the intention of parents reading them to their child).

However, I couldn’t help but feel I was watching redcoat style entertainers at a holiday park, as they pranced on and off the stage with a skip in their step and over the top grins . At one point one perfomer ‘bopped’ the caterpillar on the nose then wiggled his antennae in a cheeky manner, which to me didn’t fit the style of the stories.

The staging is simple but effective with white flats designed to look like torn pages from a book, leaving a blank canvas for a bright and colorful lighting design and for the focus to be on the 75 puppets.

The show takes us through four of Eric Carle’s loveable and timeless stories including Brown Bear Brown Bear, 10 Little Rubber Ducks, ‘The Very Busy Spider’ and ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar‘. The puppets, aesthetically impressive as they look like the characters straight out of the book, are not too fancy in their mechanics but they do the job.

Overall, the set looked nice and I loved the musical soundtrack (although it could have been louder) but for me it lacked integrity and good old-fashioned storytelling. We need to give our children more credit, challenge their thinking and encourage their imagination and creativity.

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