In the, frankly, surreal night garden

Being a mummy has hurled me headlong into a whole new world.  I reckon most mums feel like their old lives have been neatly packed up and stored in the attic until such time as their offspring are able to make it in the world on their own, or at the very least make their poor mothers a cup of tea.

I have had some happy, sad, weird and downright bizarre experiences with my children.  But yesterday was by far one of the most surreal.

In the Night Garden Live.  The stage show at the O2.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  After Fireman Sam being such a hit with Eliza I wasn't sure how she'd feel about being up close and personal with Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy. 

She's a clever little thing my daughter (clearly that's from her Dad), she's inquisitive and really quite articulate for a two year old.  She had been told we were going, since we went to pick up her best friend and his mum first and that needed an explanation.  Also I find it's best to tell her what to expect.  Surprises can backfire dramatically at her age.

So when she first saw the stage, she wanted to investigate but she was told by a very nice man in a headset that the flowers were only for the Night Garden people when she asked why she couldn't touch them.

Then the lights went down and the really rather beautiful music started and we were surrounded by stars. Iggle Piggle was seen gently rocking in his boat through the waves on his way to the Night Garden.  It was actually wonderful and I found myself smiling inanely.  Eliza was rapt.

The production involved a variety of techniques including mime, puppetry and full scale characters to create the sense of the programme.  I thought this might get lost on Eliza but she was not phased by the switch from life size to mid size to hand puppet size Makka Pakka depending on the scene.  I did have my reservations about how they were going to 'do' the Pontipines, but it worked.

Of course all she really wanted to see was Upsy Daisy, who teased the audience with her singing the whole way along, so when she finally arrived, the shrieks of delight were ear piercing.  This was the only point at which Eliza lost it.  She burst into tears but managed to tell me through her sobs that she had wanted to dance with Upsy Daisy...not bad given she was up at 5.10am and had only a 20 minute nap in the car.

The show was about 1 hour, perfect length for small children, with constant action so no margin for boredom.  The puppeteers were mime artists, and were able to make all sorts of facial expressions which as we all know children love.  It genuinely felt like a lot of thought and care had gone into the production.  Like a kids show meets Blue Man Group.   It definitely appealed to the creative side of me. 

But most importantly both children loved it. There was room for them to stand up, dance if they wanted to, they could sing along loudly.  It was completely set up to work for small children.  But personally I wouldn't go any younger than at least two years.  It's too much to expect them to concentrate for that long I think.

It took place in the Meridian Gardens part of the 02.  This is really a blow up marquee type affair at the far end of the dome, bit of a walk from the car park we were in (car park 2) but enough distraction on the walk to keep children occupied.

I would definitely try and get to see it if you can.

A massive thank you to the lovely Janis at ReallyKidFriendly for arranging the complementary tickets.