Written by Joe Brumm

Music by Joff Bush

Directed by Rosemary Myers

Tickets from £18.50

From a gentle beginning, as the bin chickens (ibises) scuttle around the set, cawing and mewling to the audience, Bluey’s Big Play already takes a more original and gentle approach than similar television to stage adaptations. But that gentle dawning Australian morning won’t stay calm for long. Once the many puppet birds flutter across the stage, the real chaos is about to begin – full of energy, vim, and colour.

If you’re one of the unfortunate people who has never heard or seen the award-winning, heart-warmingly extraordinary Australian piece of media for children, Bluey, then let’s go through a quick lowdown of this (deserving) cultural phenomenon. Bluey, a blue-heeler dog, lives with her litter sister Bingo, and Mum and Dad (Chilli and Bandit). That’s all you need to know really. It’s charming, clever, and created in such a way as to appeal universally to all ages, sometimes more so to adults given the episode.

And in true Bluey fashion, it’s a simple story on the surface, though an effective one. Bandit (Bluey’s dad) is having a bit of an offer day. They need to recharge their social batteries and are looking forward to a day on the beanbag with some gardening videos. Bluey and little sister Bingo are having none of it. Threaded through the show’s creator Joe Brumm’s story is a more central one on what it means to be a good sibling, and the annoyances and frustrations we must endure to do the right thing is a rather touching, unexpected reflection between Bluey and Bingo’s sisterhood, and their mother’s fractured one with their estranged aunt Brandy.

Composer Joff Bush, whose work on the Bluey show has led to awards for his work on the show, returns for the stage production to provide some extensions to the main theme (which, even for Bluey diehards goes on a bit too long) as well as original pieces of backing track and song. It’s expectantly bouncy and full of energy but with a few more intimate twangs and nudges for the older generations in the room to twig into how Bandit and Chilli are feeling at this moment. It’s relatable for kids, and just as recognisable for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and guardians.

Jonathon Oxlade’s larger-scale puppet design requires two (occasionally three) to work the main cast, with a couple of cameos from show favourites. They can be a touch clunky, but when leaning into the cartoon humour, bring the large laughs with the original voice cast providing voice-overs to ensure authenticity. They tap into a range of emotional intelligence for the younger crowds, coaxing out their playfulness, but also prodding their empathy to follow the story. It’s brisk, clocking in at fifty minutes, enough to hold attention without diluting the story too much.

The final moments of the show a theatre-wide game of ‘Keepie Uppy’ leads to a cacophony of chaos, cheers, and occasional tears if they don’t get a chance to engage. But this is delightful theatre: bubbling and erupting with joy. In the professional opinions of a three-year-old niece, “it’s amazing. I love it all”, and her gently sobbing father, Bluey’s Big Play captures the spirit of the television series to the letter while offering an engaging entryway for young audiences to theatre.

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