Gangsta Granny takes to the stage
It's not often that a show makes you think about what a better granddaughter you could be. But it's not every day you watch a Gangsta Granny take to the stage in Wolverhampton.
The Gangsta Granny show runs at The Grand Theatre, Lichfield Street, until Sunday, before it heads it London's West End.
The show is an unexpected delight, one that made both children and adults laugh out loud, cringe, and in the case of this reviewer, cry, as Ben and his Granny take on an unexpected adventure.
The production is based on the book of the same name by David Walliams who has become one of the best selling children's book authors of recent times.
The set was a cacophony of intriguing drawers, pull out beds and hidden ladders, with the transitions between scenes smooth and seamless.
The production was full of heart. It tells the story of 11-year-old Ben who spends every Friday night at his cabbage-loving granny' s whilst his parents attend their weekly ballroom classes.
Though Ben's parents have ambitions for him to become a top professional dancer, Ben just wants to become a plumber. His interest in sewers becomes a key part of his adventure with his granny, after he discovers her surprising secret.
Gilly Tompkins was a triumph as Granny - embodying everything one knows, loves and remembers about their own grandmothers. Her accent, comedic timing and physicality meant that the young audience were captivated by her life story as much as Ben, played by Ashley Cousins, really was.
Ashley was a genuine and convincing Ben with a real sincere love of his grandmother, in contrast to the indifference shown by his parents.
Benedict Parker as the nosey Mr Parker was a joy to watch and understudy Sophie Gibbs was the twirling, Strictly-obsessed leopard-print-wearing mother of all our nightmares.
The tale the production tells is a moral one then, one that tells us we 're often to quick to judge the older generation as 'boring' with little to offer the young.
What the show reveals is how much we all have to learn from our grandparents and the wisdom and modesty they offer us.
The story may be a fiction, but the show tells a universal tale of never judging a book by its cover, or a granny by her cabbage soup.
Gangsta Granny runs until Sunday with morning, matinee and evening shows available.
Tickets range from £12 to £19.50.
For more information, visit www.grandtheatre.co.uk/whats-on/kids/ or call the Box Office on 01902 429 212.
