Anna Kemp and Sara Ogilvie’s Dogs Don’t Do Ballet is one of those picture books that never fails to delight little and big people in equal measure. So Alfie and I were excited to go and see how the Little Angel Theatre would translate it onto stage. Well, I can report back that it was just brilliant. A mix of character acting and puppetry, it perfectly realised the humour and pathos in the tale of Biff, the little dog who wants to be a ballerina but keeps being told he can’t. The puppets themselves were fantastic – they looked as though they’d stepped off the pages of the book – and there was plenty of silliness and mishap to keep the children entertained. The way the scenes and set changed was clever – Alfie proclaimed the bit where a teeny tiny Biff was on a bus following Anna to the Royal Ballet to be his favourite bit. Suitable for ages two to six, although nearly nine-month-old Kitty clapped throughout the entire thing and if that’s not the best review you could hope for I don’t know what is. On tour until 21 April – book now for the Easter holidays.
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