REVIEW: Stickman, Warwick Arts Centre

Having loved the amazing selection of Julia Donaldson books since he was a small child, and having seen a few of these shows at Warwick Arts Centre, my seven year old and I were delighted to hear that Stickman would be this year’s offering at Warwick Arts Centre, having read the book many, many times.

We arrived at Warwick Arts Centre with our tickets, which signposted us to exactly where we needed to go to find our seats.  The theatre was airy and modern, and seats were well arranged and spacious.  It was also very refreshing to see that booster seats for smaller guests were readily available and being offered out by the very helpful team who showed us to our seats.

As we sat down we were greeted with a scene on stage that looked exactly like one of the beautiful illustrations within the book, leading to further excitement from many of the children.

The story is of Stickman, who, as the title suggests, is a stick who gets swept up into lots of adventures and all he really wants to do is get back to his family (of sticks) for Christmas, but has a few obstacles along the way…

The show started with singing from the characters and children were immediately engaged.

I firstly wondered how the actors would pull off their characters as sticks, but the whole thing was very cleverly done with the actor who played Stickman holding the stick, which represented the character, but rather than dressing as a stick itself, portraying the character cleverly without the need for awkward costumes, bearing in mind that the main character was simply a stick!

The play was put together well with just three actors playing all the characters and playing musical instruments at the side of the stage when required, which made up all the musical content of the whole performance, showing the audience just how talented the performers were.

This is a wonderful alternative to a pantomime, with Santa making an appearance too, giving the audience a wonderful opportunity to see one of their favourite stories brought to life in a truly Christmassy atmosphere.

The set was beautifully laid out and ensured that whilst the story did elaborate somewhat (I did wonder how the telling of a story in a short book would fill an hour of stage time, but this show managed it) and we were enthralled from start to finish!

Warwick Arts Centre is easily accessible with parking throughout the university campus.  Seat boosters are available for smaller guests ensuring that everyone enjoys the show!

Stickman is on now until Saturday 31 December at Warwick Arts Centre and tickets can be booked here.