Dreaming of a New World

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An interactive children's performance at the Lyric Theatre

With more than enough bad news going on in the world, an afternoon spent at the Sea of Tranquility dreaming of what you would like tomorrow's world to look like seems to be the perfect antedote. What a Wonderful World, currently playing at the Lyric Theatre, gives you and the little people in your family just such an opportunity.

What a Wonderful World, by the Lyngo theatre company, is a highly interactive children's show where the audience are continually invited to take part and help out. As a first step, we were asked to give the world a comforting hug. “The world is upset because we haven't been treating him well,” we were told. Then, joining the sleeper train, the children were taken on a journey through the stars, where they could dream about what they wanted to see in tomorrow's, presumably better, world.

Never sitting on their floor cushions for long, the children were invited into the performance area to help make waves by holding onto a huge piece of blue cloth and moving it up and down (the sea), they chased and caught dancing lights (the stars) and made a garden for some birds. One of the highlights was a very realistic-looking pink flamingo, which many of the children followed as Lynch carried it around the central space.

Before the show begins, parents are asked to promise to pick up their children if they wander into the performance area at times when they are supposed to be sitting down. Although this is a bit like promising to help water flow uphill, the big people attending Tuesday's performance all obediently agreed. Thankfully, the unrealistic rule was not enforced and performers Emilia Brodie and Patrick Lynch (from CBeebies' Razzle Dazzle), dealt with the inevitable rule-breaking by the little people with good humour.

At several points in the show, we were asked to delve into our 'grow bags', which had been handed out at the beginning and which contained a range of seemingly useless items. These included bubble wrap, which we used to make the crackling noise of a fire burning, snowballs, which we used to throw at a man covered in ice, a small, indescribable gadget which we used to make the sound of birds singing, and paper leaves which we blew away as the wind started blowing.

The 50-minute performance is advertised as being for 2- to 5-year-olds but there was a far wider range of ages present. Those who were so young they were just getting used to this world, never mind building a new one, seemed quite mesmerised by all the activity, lights and music around them. The slightly older age group – some of the children looked as though they were in the 8-10 age bracket – got thoroughly involved in the action, enjoying the show on a different level.

What a Wonderful World is a show that really works. The pace is fast enough to keep all age groups engaged and interested throughout, the activities are fun and well-thought out, and being able to take part in the performance was something the older children in particular enjoyed enormously.

What a Wonderful World runs until 11th April. Tickets are £6 for children and £8 for adults.

Yasmine Estaphanos

April 7, 2009