The stage adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s and Axel Scheffler’s book The Baddies began running at Kingston’s Rose Theatre yesterday, 29 October.
Today, I was fortunate enough to go see the show, which began at 1pm and ran for an hour.
The book – and the play – is about a little girl moves into a nearby cottage, and the Baddies can’t wait to scare her out of her wits.
But the little girl quickly shows them that you don’t have to be big to be brave, and baddies don’t always win.
At today’s performance, the audience consisted of young children and their parents – the age guidance is ages three and above – so I must admit, upon first taking my seat, I was slightly worried that I’d be a little too old for the show, but I was pleasantly surprised.
With songs by Joe Stilgoe (Zog and Zog and The Flying Doctors), The Baddies stage adaptation is a wickedly hilarious adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s smash-hit story.
The initial stage setting, in the mouse family’s home in the tree stump, was clearly carefully designed and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
And from the moment Lottie Mae O’Kill stepped onto the stage as Mamma Mouse proving that she is a perfect actress for panto, I knew that the audience were in for a real treat.
Lottie Mae O’Kill plays Mamma Mouse (Image supplied)
The way she embodied the mouse and motherly persona was expertly portrayed and her voice matched the pantomime-style of the play- she had an incredible singing voice too, singing ‘Say Sorry, say thank you, say please’ to her three mice babies.
Upon entering the stage, the three mice babies immediately had the audience bursting into fits of laughter, and the costumes were great too.
This scene consisted of Mamma Mouse teaching her babies to learn their manners through song, and I couldn’t help but sway along to the music, I’m even humming it now as I write this review.
Shortly afterwards, Mamma Mouse begins to tell a bedtime story to her baby mice – the titular story of The Baddies – and teases the audience by pretending to fall asleep as she begins, which had the audience in fits of giggles.
Following this, the story began, and we were introduced to the three titular ‘Baddies’; Witch (Rachel Bird), Ghost (James Sterling), and Troll (Dyfrig Morris), and, like O’Kill, these three actors also proved that they too are perfect for panto.
The Baddies’ costumes were also spectacular, and I couldn’t help but admire Bird for agreeing to wear the heavy looking witch headdress, even if it did fall off later on the play – though she quickly recovered it.
The Baddies consisted of Witch, Ghost, and Troll (Image supplied)
In this scene, the singing continued, suggesting that this adaptation would be a bit of a musical, and all the actors presented excellent singing voices – I couldn’t help but think that they should all be on the West End or Broadway.
The lighting and sound was excellent too, matching perfectly to the story narrated by Mamma Mouse throughout.
I loved that, as the show is targeted at young children, that the Baddies weren’t at all scary, but instead embodied the typical goofy panto villains that kids generally aren’t scared of.
In this scene, the Baddies sing ‘The Very Worst Baddies in the World’ describing what makes them bad, and I could see the whole audience swaying along – the song was annoyingly catchy.
The actors’ interaction with the audience was fantastic too, at this point Mamma Mouse had the audience booing at the Baddies.
Next, we are introduced to The Girl (Yukki Sutton), who breaks into song about moving to her new home and presents the most angelic voice.
Yukki Sutton played The Girl (Image supplied)
The stage setting for this scene was beautiful, being the Girl’s house, and the backdrop of the village she’s moved to is expertly painted.
The song The Girl sang reminded me of a Disney film, like when the protagonist is about to embark on their adventure, which was very fitting for The Girl embarking on her latest adventure of moving to a new home by herself.
At this point in the play, the Baddies plan to scare The Girl, in a wickedly humours way, and I must admit, I thought that Troll was the funniest Baddie.
It’s also funny that Ghost actually seems to be scared of everything.
James Sterling played Ghost (Image supplied)
In this scene, the Baddies try to figure out who is the baddest among them, and they have a comical wrestling-ring like fight, which had the audience laughing.
As they sing about themselves, each Baddie produces a dance to go with their character, in which they invite the audience to dance along to.
For example, Ghost had the audience boogying along to “how low can you ghost”.
The Baddies also had the audience raising their hands if they “want to be bad”, which seemed to be great fun for the little ones.
Inserting herself into the story, Mamma Mouse suggests that the Baddies try to steal The Girl’s hanky.
Troll goes first and lets out a huge, and very impressive, roar, but The Girl is not scared oh him.
Up next, after checking through her pocketbook with the help of her black cat, Witch casts a spell on The Girl, which results in her sneezing into her hanky and dropping her toffee, string, and a worm, which scare the Baddies off.
Finally, Ghost tries to scare The Girl at night with his ghostly “wooo” cries, but she is not scared and instead invites him in for tea.
Inside her home, The Girl tells Ghost that if she’s scared, she counts the spots on her hanky as directed by her mother, who does not appear in the play.
Eventually, The Girl gives her hanky to Mamma Mouse, who asks for help keeping her baby mice warm.
Here we find that the moral of the story is to ask for help politely, circulating the story back to the first scene when Mamma Mouse teaches her babies their manners.
Upon realising the need to be polite, the Baddies decide to leave town, only to be told, to their dismay, by Mamma Mouse that they’ll have to go live with Ogre.
However, realising that the Baddies have learnt their lesson, Oliver Ogre, dressed in a furry costume and presenting a Scottish accent just like Shrek, offers them alternative living arrangements, fitting to their characters, to give the story a happy ending.
The play ended with another rendition of ‘The Worst Baddies in the World’, which the audience clapped and danced along to, and I can tell that it was enjoyed by all.
Despite The Baddies being made for kids, it’s enjoyable for all ages and is the perfect lunchtime treat for your little ones to enjoy.
The show is running at the Rose Theatre until 3 November.
You can book your tickets here.
