Me and Kamron went to watch Baba Yaga co-produced by Theatre Porto and Theatre Hullabaloo at The Hullabaloo in Darlington.
'' A spooky yet humorous tale full of excitement, bravery and imaginative play, inspiring and empowering children’’
-Familyfundarlomum
We both really enjoyed this show. Inspired by the Slavic fairytale, Baba Yaga where a brother and sister are forced to flee their home and find themselves in a whole new place. I loved how even from when we were getting seated the two actors were looking shy playing with toys awkwardly showing us a hint of their character.
Kamron in particular enjoyed the scary parts. The way the story was told was very clever and exciting to watch throughout. With lots of twists and turns, and build ups to get you intrigued to what's going to happen. When it got a bit scary it would then follow with some silliness and humour which children could relate to. I loved the elements of independent play throughout and reusing the props such as from a table and then a bridge and then a wall! And using small items to represent larger items which really got your imagination going.
Image Credit: Press images by Theatre Porto/Theatre Hullabaloo
Their acting really had us looking round the room for Baba Yaga and with the spooky noises and sounds, to help really getting into the moment, almost slightly a bit dark and scary but then excitement followed with the running around the stage jumping over and round furniture like children would do, getting everyone laughing. Then there was the moments where 'Boy' and 'Girl' got nervous to keep going, so they used the bravery badge to encourage each other. All really positive ideas for children to take in. I also loved how the characters were called 'Boy' and 'Girl' so that all children could relate.
Image Credit: Press images by Theatre Porto/Theatre Hullabaloo
It was put together in a simple but very clever way and shows children that they can do the same thing at home using their imagination and having fun creating a story and using very little props making theatre and drama a more accessible idea to all.
🎭The Venue-The Hullabaloo🎭
One of my favourite venues in Darlington, perfect for both my 16 month old and 7 year old to play together in such a chilled welcoming environment. The cafe area is the perfect for pre or post show to enjoy a cuppa, a light lunch or even a sweet treat like Harries Handcrafted doughnuts, a very popular local business. They have a lovely play reading corner in the cafe and a creative play installation which changes every few months, currently this is set up with the 'Dreamland' installation which is full of calm and sensory elements.
It's very accessible to all too and this particular show we watched was highlighted as a 'neurodiverse' show. Everyone was welcome but the aim was to make those with additional needs feel more inclusive and comfortable with a more relaxed environment. This definitely came across and all the children seemed very calm and enjoying it from what I could see.
On our visit for the show you could create your own bravery badge, which me and Kamron enjoyed doing. They also has the story Baba Yaga in the book corner which I read to Kamron beforehand and he really liked the story, as did I!
We also had some light lunch and shared one of Harry's Halloween Themed Doughnuts as we couldn't resist 😋 And there was a Baba Yaga themed activity sheet too which you could collect when leaving the show that Kamron enjoyed doing whilst waiting for lunch.
We had a great morning and i will definitely be keeping an eye out for more shows by Theatre Porto and hopefully they will be performing and co-producing with Theatre Hullabaloo again soon :)
Ad-Gifted visit. All of my reviews are always 100% honest and informative.
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