>In The Night Garden Live review

>On Saturday 18th June, we made the trip to Woburn near Milton Keynes, to see In The Night Garden Live. I was quite intrigued about this show, as I had seen media footage of the showdomes going up near Woburn abbey.

When we arrived, albeit a little later than I had planned thanks to the m25! The children immediately were excited at the sights of the two massive white domes with In the night garden characters around the outside. We easily found somewhere to park, it was great to see parking attendants ready to help. The parking was right outside, so there was no long walk to get to the showdomes.

Inside I was met by very friendly staff and we were guided through to where we would need to go. I noticed that all the flooring is very buggy friendly and there is fantastic toilet and baby changing facilities.

The show was just starting as we walked in. I was immediately surprised at the inside lay out of the inside of the dome. I have been to other live shows for young children before and they had been in theatres with the usual theatre seating, which is not the most child friendly of places. But inside the show dome of In the night garden live, they have created a seating plan which is fabulous! It is constructed from solid blocks, so the children can climb over them with no fear of injury or slipping down gaps. The blocks are large and leave plenty of room for others to be able to leave at any opportunity without having to get anybody else to move out of the way. A great idea for when your little one suddenly decides they NEED the toilet. The stage is so close to the seating area the little ones can really see what is going on all the time.

The show itself was spectacular. As an adult I found it engaging and clever. The scenery transforms to tell the story and you never know what’s coming next. The most amazing part for me was the puppeteers. The puppeteers were dressed in green which blended into the background really well but they did an amazing job of bring the characters to life. As an adult, It was great to see the talent of the Puppateers, it left me in awe.

The children were engaged by the music, which wasn’t too loud. The lighting in the seating area wasn’t dark so there was no scared children wondering what was going on. There was full sized iggle piggle and upsydaisy which both appeared regularly throughout the show and when they did, all the children were excited to see them. Mark loved looking at the pretty colours being projected over the ceiling and was super excited when he saw igglepiggle on stage.

Marky watching the show.

There is two different shows to see at In The Night Garden live. You can choose when booking your tickets online which show you want to see. We saw the ninky nonk show, but there is also a pinky ponk show. The plot of the story was really well thought out. The background effects were projected across the whole roof of the show dome creating a really unique experience that the children were amazed at. The Ninky nonk which was featured in our story came out and cruised around the stage but also across the ceiling.

After the show you have the opportunity to meet your favourite character for a private meeting to have a cuddle and a picture for a small fee. This is something that is also available when you book your tickets online.

As a family, we all loved the show. It was a fantastic experience that I don’t think we will forget for a long time to come. It is a really clever and unique experience that is definitely worth a visit!

In The Night Garden Live is showing at Woburn Abbey unti the 2nd July, then will travelling around the country to other venues including Cardiff, Tunbridge Well and London. Check out full details and book tickets on the official site http://www.nightgardenlive.com/