Tiger Who Came to Tea Live, Birmingham Town Hall - review

The Tiger Who Came to Tea celebrated its 50th anniversary last year and its longevity shows no signs of stopping.

The book is brilliant. Simple and yet completely unique. A tiger coming to tea, eating a family out of house and home, and then never returning again.

Who thinks up a story like that? Well, Judith Kerr was the genius behind the tale, and the story has since been adapted into a musical play by David Wood.

I took my six-year-old niece Lucy and daughter Annabelle, four, along yesterday afternoon to catch the opening performance of the show, which runs at Birmingham Town Hall until January 13.

The plot is the same but, if like me, you were thinking ‘how are they going to stretch a five-minute book into a 55-minute play’, trust me, there’s no need to worry.

From the opening word to the closing song, the whole performance runs likes clockwork and keeps the children entertained from start to finish.

There are plenty of sing-a-longs, call-and-responses to get the audience involved, a bit of slapstick and plenty of enthusiasm from the small cast, who bring the whole play together really well.

The premise is the same and they haven’t moved away from the original text too much. Dad still goes out to work, forgetting his keys and even his shoes on the way out the door, while mum and daughter stay at home, eating breakfast, lunch and dinner – and even begin to panic when it becomes clear the tiger has eaten dad’s supper. What ever will he think?

It’s all good family fun though and once the stage had been set the tiger, unsurprisingly, is the star of the show. The cast worked well to make it look realistic when the tiger eats all the sandwiches, cakes, tea and supper on the stoves, as well as all the food in the cupboards and fridge.

The big cat also had a very pronounced walk, shall we say, while strutted across the stage and soon had the audience on their feet dancing to some tiger aerobics.

When the tiger departed and dad came home, and realised he had no supper – oh, the humanity – they all went to the café for some sausage, chips and ice cream, which again led into a bizarre-but-fun sing-a-long about eating loads of food and feeling full.

The director had set the scene really nicely, with the auditorium turning dark to show it was getting late, while stars were shone on the walls and ceilings.

For me, the best part was the ending. It was kept exactly the same as the book.

After replacing the food in the cupboards, and buying a huge can of tiger food – which can be found in any of the major supermarkets – just in case the tiger comes back the following evening, he never does show up again.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon for the children and adults alike.