Mr Popper's Penguins at the Theatre Royal Brighton

On Saturday afternoon, I took my 4 year old daughter and hubby to the magical Theatre Royal to see Mr Popper’s Penguins.  None of us have read the book or seen the film so we weren’t sure what to expect. Luckily this performance had everything you would want for both kids and adults.

The tale began with Mr Popper describing his mundane life as a house painter and his aspirations to visit the Antarctic and join the adventures of Admiral Drake. The first song brilliantly conveyed his dreams but also his realistic beliefs that he was destined to only hear about these adventures through the medium of radio. My daughter was immediately hooked and in awe of the set and the actors.

After another song, introducing us to Mrs Popper and the life that she and her husband lived, we got to the good bit! The arrival of the first penguin – Captain Cook. My daughter thought the penguin was hilarious and my husband and I were very impressed with the puppet.

The play then moved very fast. We enjoyed watching the antics of Captain Cook and eventually his mate Greta and their very cute babies. One of my daughter’s favourite parts was watching Mrs Popper trying to get the penguin babies off to sleep! She also loved seeing Captain Cook sleeping in the freezer!

We all agreed that the penguin circus act was very entertaining and very cleverly done. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

But the biggest sign that this production was a success was that there was a theatre full of children who were captured by the magic of Mr Popper and his Penguins, laughing at all the right bits and joining in right to the end – where the cast got everyone up and taught the children a penguin dance.

It was the perfect way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon – and it was the day before my daughter’s birthday so we kicked off the birthday celebrations in style.

Thank you to the Theatre Royal Brighton.

Katie