A couple of weeks ago, we went to see Cirque du Soleil, Ovo. We took the whole family, ranging in age from 6 to 72 and all thoroughly enjoyed the show. With my whole life being very involved in gymnastics, Cirque du Soleil has always had an appeal for me and I knew Lou would love it but I wasn’t sure just how much it would appeal to The Boy (6) or K (12) neither of whom have a real interest in gymnastics.

I needn’t have worried as each and every one of them were totally transfixed throughout the performance, even The Boy sat through the whole thing without a wiggle and was amazed by this guy:

I’m not overly keen on going to see a circus as I despise clowns and often find the acrobatics cumbersome in comparison with the artistic gymnastics that has always been part of my life. Cirque du Soleil never disappoints in it’s choreography, originality and execution but I have, on occasion been bored during the circus element of other Cirque productions and sat cringing at the slap-stick comedy of the clowns, but not during Ovo. The clowns were hilarious, acting out a boy-meets-girl scenario where she makes him work for her attention throughout the show. They basically glued the whole performance together with a bit of audience participation and cheeky banter, keeping us all giggling while the set changes took place in the background. There was never a moment of nothing and for a show consisting of a series of different ‘acts’, it was seamless. At the interval (60 minutes in), I felt like we’d only been sat there for 20 minutes- it was the quickest hour of my life!! Here’s another snippet to wet your appetite:

It’s still on at the Royal Albert Hall until 4^th March and is touring around Europe for the rest of the year, including other UK venues in Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, and Glasgow to name but a few! I honestly couldn’t recommend it more as the best theatre production for the whole family.

Which other theatre productions should we go and see?

The event got me thinking about taking the children to the theatre more often but its often really quite expensive and we would want to go as a whole family and know that we would all enjoy it. Of course, around Christmas time, the Pantomime is an obvious choice but what about the rest of the year? Having asked around, I’ve collated of some of the best theatre productions for the whole family around the UK, recommended by some of my favourite family bloggers. If you live close enough, the West End is the obvious choice for a huge variety of shows but we often overlook the smaller theatres right on our door-step, where you can take the kids to a matinee, in the cheaper seats and even right at the back of the theatre, the experience can be amazing if you chose the right production! The majority of these shows will be travelling around and may well be coming to your local theatre so don’t be put off by location:

Nikki from Yorkshire Wonders went to see and reviewed ‘The Hogwallops’ recently. “It was a cross between circus and theatre – a play but with a trapeze, juggling and acrobatics. It was funny and chaotic, and could really appeal to everyone from toddlers to growns up as it was so visually charismatic.”

Jo from Cup of Toast recommends an amazing theatre company who tour nationally and internationally: “We love Motionhouse who are absolutely incredible! Their shows are so well produced, you can tell that there’s so much passion that goes into each one.”

Mother Distracted’s Linda: “Shrek the Musical is brilliant, as is The Addams Family – good songs and a plot the whole family will enjoy. We also saw Mary Poppins the musical which was excellent. We’re in Cardiff so the Wales Millennium Centre is a great venue for us.” 

Anna blogs over at Popitha about life with her twins and recently took them (aged 2!) to see The Snowman in London: “I was nervous as to whether they would sit through it but it was magical. It was fast paced and full of music which captured the girls and they loved it. We went with their 80 yr old grandparents who enjoyed it just as much!”

Clare from ‘Freddies Mummy UK’ has just written a post about the theatre and why they loves going as a family  “We have just seen Annie in London, and it was definitely up there in our all time favourites!”

We are planning to go and see Walking with Dinosaurs at the O2 in the summer. The reviews for this are incredible and considering the fact that Grandma suggested it, I’m confident that we are all going to love it. Have you seen it?

Which theatre productions would you recommend for the whole family?

This is not a sponsored post, we all loved Cirque and wanted to share our experience! BTW they allowed the audience to take photos and films, encouraging us to share.