BWW Reviews: THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA, Lyric Theatre, July 15 2014

There's nothing not to like about The Tiger Who Came To Tea. It's a neat, tried-and-tested adaptation of Judith Kerr's classic children's book.

There are cheery, catchy songs, a dollop of audience participation, and it all wraps up in under an hour. Perfect, surely?

It's a lovely way to spend a morning with your favourite youngsters - at the performance I took my three-year-old nephew to, there were several school parties in the house, getting a taste of live theatre.

As you probably know, the tiger pays a visit to Sophie and her mum, demolishing all the food and drink in their house, and then introducing them (and the audience) to Tigerobics.

There was something missing, though, I felt; Kerr's book is, of course, slightly dated, and that's hammered home by the image of the mummy and little girl spending their day in the kitchen, waiting for the be-hatted daddy to return from work.

And although the tiger's visit is joyous, his departure then leaves the show feeling flat, and the attempt to reinvigorate it with an interminable song about yummy, yummy sausages and scrummy, scrummy chips doesn't work, even with the littlest ones.

The slickness and snappiness means the show runs like clockwork, and the audience are enthusiastically involved - I just wondered, perhaps, if they could be more engaged than they are.

Picture: Robert Workman

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