This afternoon we were invited along to Hertford Theatre to view "The Bear" by pins and needles productions, which has been a feature of our whats on in Hertford guide for several weeks. We were delighted to add The Bear to our tried and tested blog for Hertfordshire parents.

"The Bear" was written by Raymond Briggs and although we were unfamiliar with the story as huge fans of  "The snowman" by the same author, we knew we were in for a treat.

Be sheer coincidence we saw the production company arrive this morning as we were off for a nice breakfast. We watched as they pulled various items from their van unloading directly into the theatre. We saw a fish puppet and snatched a glimpse of what we think was  the Bears head in the back of the van much to the excitement of my two little ones.

It always amazes me when production companies arrive with a van full of props and have to set up an entire production in only a matter of hours before performing.

You can view the video trailer for "The Bear" here.

The Bear tells the story of Tilly, a little girl with a huge imagination. She loves to sing and dance and play games with her best friend teddy. One night whilst Tilly is asleep an enormous bear climbs through her window and wakes her up. Far from being scared Tilly embarks on a huge adventure with her bear and chaos ensues. From bath time to fancy dress to the less fun tasks of cleaning up The Bears poo (!!) the tale of The Bear and his unusual friendship with Tilly is an utter delight.

The puppetry is simply breath taking, when The Bear first made his appearance on stage there were audible gasps and my two children were captivated.

The accompanying music was both funny and in parts very moving.

There were also laughs aplenty particularly regarding Tilly's long suffering parents who appears to have the patience of saints.

The set design was a stroke of genius, particularly when changing scenes .

My husband, who was enjoying a rare weekend off said he thought the show was "absolutely brilliant".

 

The Bear is 55 minutes in length which is just long enough for wiggly little people. An ideal first trip the theatre perhaps?

Hertford mums- if you want to see The Bear you will have to move fast as there is only one more show left at Hertford Theatre.

You can find the details of how to book tickets to see "The Bear" here. 

 

Thanks for reading

Kayleigh & the Boys

 

Disclaimer: We were gifted complementary tickets to this performance. All words are my own