The Cat in the Hat

The Pleasance Theatre in Islington is a lovely small theatre set down a cobbled mews, that seats about 200, so was perfect for a crowd of small children and their hangers on, about 5-10 minutes walk from the nearest Tube, Caledonian Road.

I was hanger-on to my 7 year old daughter and my 4 year old son – there was a real sense of excitement as we queued for our tickets, with a perfect photo opportunity for them to pose as Thing 1 and Thing 2 in the lobby, and Hats for sale in two sizes – we decided not to opt for those but were pleased that we got an activity book/programme free for the kids, which was a nice touch. The other children had come dressed for the occasion in Christmas jumpers as mine had, but one child had really pushed the boat out and dressed came as Santa. The atmosphere was relaxed and no one was rushed into their seats despite nearly everyone being late, it was all very calm, which was a good thing with small children and several steps up to the theatre itself.

Photo Credit Garry Lake

The whole play lasted just over 40 minutes, and it started gently with the Boy and Sally saying their opening lines – the Fish then began to snore and some bubbles came down from the ceiling as she came out into the crowd, as if in a dream, to catch them. This was enough for my son to start clinging to me but I needn’t have worried as this was the only audience participation for a while, which helped any slightly nervy children settle into it.

The actors were very convincing, getting the pace just right, and they stuck to the rhyme and rhythm of the text – the Cat was excellent, and was so good at pretending to hit a tennis ball that my daughter kept looking in the direction that he had hit the imaginary ball, expecting to see it. The props did a great job of making him appear to be balancing on a big ball with the Fish, Tea Pot and Books, just as in the book.

The fun really began though when the Cat unleashed Thing 1 and Thing 2 – these actors were hilarious, I found myself and my daughter doing real belly-laughs as they knocked pictures off the wall, uni-cycled, came into the audience and squirted us with water pistols (gently as befits the young audience) and enormous soft coloured balloons came bouncing down into the audience for us to hit back at the actors.

I found myself getting totally thrown into it just as the children were – there were a mix of boos and cheers as Thing 1 & Thing 2 were finally caught by an enormous net, and I am afraid I booed quite loudly. When the Cat came into the audience to high-five the children I found myself offering my palm too!

I asked the most important audience members, the children, what was their favourite bit, and they said “everything” (7yo) and “when they cleared up” (4yo who clearly disapproved of the Cat making such a mess in someone else’s house) and they both said they would both like to see it again as soon as possible. And you can’t get much better than that.

Performance Dates & Venue

MONDAY 8 DECEMBER 2014 – SUNDAY 4 JANUARY 2015

PLEASANCE THEATRE – Carpenters Mews, North Rd, N7 9EF

Performance Times

08/12 – 12/12 and 16/12 – 19/12, 10.30am and 1.30pm

13/12 – 14/12 and 20/12 – 04/01, 11.00am and 2.00pm

Tickets:

£7-12.50 (Family ticket £40)

Box Office:

020 7609 1800| www.pleasance.co.uk

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