Horrible Histories Live: Groovy Greeks Review

Groovy Greeks and Incredible Invaders - Horrible Histories by The Birmingham Stage Company CREATIVES Director - Neal Foster Designer - Jackie Trousdale Lighting - Jason Taylor Music - Matthew Scott Sound - Nick Sagar Choreography - Kenn Oldfield Casting - Kay Magson Assistant Designer - Millie Else Production Manager  - Adrian Littlejohns Company Stage Manager - April Sarson Deputy Stage Manager - Simon Batho Wardrobe Supervisor - Tony Priestly Touring Wardrobe - Nicole Hicks & Jane Stoner Vocal Coach - Matthew Shaw CAST Evelyn Adams Tom Moores Holly Morgan Elliot Fitzpatrick Andrew Alton - Understudy

This year we are trying to make our travel a little more meaningful, so as Athens was our first trip we have been getting the little adventurers and Maya specifically interested in the history and learning about Greece.  Horrible Histories are an amazing collection of stories enlightening the younger generation to some of the history’s most exciting events.  When we saw that Lowry were hosting Horrible Histories Live: Groovy Greeks, we thought it would be an ideal way to continue with our learning.

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We went to watch the show with two 7 year olds and I think 6-7+ was the ideal age for this show.  As I am sat writing this review, thinking back to the show, I can wholeheartedly say that Horrible Histories Live was one of the most informative, energetic and unique combination of 3D visuals and acting that I have seen in the theatre.  The show starts with a seemingly normal family of 4 who are in the theatre to watch the Horrible Histories show but are in turn tasked to learn all about the history of the Greeks and share it with the audience.  I have been to several shows where a few actors have acted all the roles but this was by far one of the best ones I have seen.  With each changing role, the actors took on the new role with lots of energy, and totally made each part they played unique and lots of fun.  There was a genuine sense of energy, charisma and theatrical feel and despite there only being four actors in the entire show, it did not once take anything away from the show.

Groovy Greeks and Incredible Invaders - Horrible Histories by The Birmingham Stage Company CREATIVES Director - Neal Foster Designer - Jackie Trousdale Lighting - Jason Taylor Music - Matthew Scott Sound - Nick Sagar Choreography - Kenn Oldfield Casting - Kay Magson Assistant Designer - Millie Else Production Manager  - Adrian Littlejohns Company Stage Manager - April Sarson Deputy Stage Manager - Simon Batho Wardrobe Supervisor - Tony Priestly Touring Wardrobe - Nicole Hicks & Jane Stoner Vocal Coach - Matthew Shaw CAST Evelyn Adams Tom Moores Holly Morgan Elliot Fitzpatrick Andrew Alton - Understudy

The show starts with the family showing the audience one of Greeks most famous stories, The Trojans.  I loved how the show kept itself so relevant and made it into a sketch based on the TV programme “The Simpson” there was lots of tongue in cheek humour but the story was retold with lots of accuracy and so efficiently that it is amazing that it managed to fit in something which could take hours to explain in such an succinct and ideal way for even children to understand and stay with the story throughout.  This was the first story of many which is retold in the show and each was as unique and fun as the first.  Each new story, was made a little unique by using different modern day take on things or visuals to really hit the story home.  Our daughter’s favourite was the Gods have talent and she loved how four of her favourite gods were in the show and how it was shown.  For me as a parent (and total lover of theatre) I was really impressed with their unique take on things.  Often my qualm with family shows are they are not interactive enough with the audience and I thought Horrible Histories was great in this aspect too and really tried to get the audience involved where they could, it was great as it helped to keep the children really involved in the show.

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The 3D effects deserve a special mention, given that we have watched a number of shows in the Lowry theatre this was the first where we have seen a live show use 3D effects.  Okay its no Avatar but it worked so well and it made the experience of running through the Labyrinth seeking out the Minator so much more memorable and really brought the https://ecuaexperience.com/buy-generic-tramadol-ultram/ story home for the youngsters and adults alike.  For myself and Doc, it was really enjoyable as it was evident that the show had put a lot of effort into making it.

If you have any children who are fans of the books or you want to enjoy family theatre at its very best, this show is not to be missed.  We had a fantastic evening and we learnt so much.  Highly recommended!!

 

Nisbah

I am a traveller, mother and blogger. We love to go on adventures (big and small, near and far) and strive to show our children how amazing and beautiful the world is! I caught the travel bug many moons ago and despite having three little adventurers, I still suffer from "itchy" feet. We love the great outdoors and one another. Come and join the fun :)

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