Review: WINNIE THE POOH, King's Theatre

Winnie the Pooh is an hour-long stage show based on the beloved book and characters created by A A Milne.

Set in the 100 Acre Wood, Winnie the Pooh (Benjamin Durham) is looking for his best friend Christopher Robin. Christopher usually brings Pooh some honey but left to his own devices, the bumbling bear has to sniff some out for himself. 

As you would expect from Disney, there is a lot of detail to the production. It's not an over-the-top musical extravaganza like The Lion King but a more gentle play with short songs- aimed at a much younger audience. All of Pooh's friends get their grand entrance- the appearance of Tigger being a particular high point for many. My personal favourite puppet is Eeyore (played by Harry Boyd) who has the best comic timing accompanied by deadpan expression. 

The audience response is a bit mixed with the children with mostly positive gasps and gleeful giggles but the occasional scream of sheer terror. 

There's no real peril to be had here. Pooh gets into various scrapes and sticky situations in his quest for honey, a thoughtless Tigger trashes Rabbit's prize garden and Pooh finds himself wedged in a tree trunk. It's all very mild and the short run time means it manages to hold the attention of the little ones for the most part. 

All of the puppeteers do an excellent job and you very quickly focus on the characters rather than the humans standing behind them. There are a lot of nods and references to beloved storylines, the game of 'pooh sticks' and blustery days. I was touched to hear someone in the audience singing along (word perfect) to 'The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers' - until I realised it was the 29 year old I had brought with me...

It's not quite the assault on the senses that many musicals aimed at a younger audience are and makes for a wonderfully gentle introduction to live theatre.

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