‘A source of joy for audiences’: Bluey’s Big Play director has big hopes ahead of Hull shows
Pictures by Mark Senior
By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor
The director of a live theatre adaptation of smash hit children’s TV show Bluey’s Big Play says she believes it will be a big success on these shores because the UK has a “panto culture”.
The production will visit Hull’s Connexin Live for six shows over May 10 to 12 as part of a UK and Ireland tour.
After sell-out performances in the US, it reached a domestic audience for the first time at Christmas at London’s Royal Festival Hall. Director Rose Myers said: “When we got to London we thought, ‘Will the audience be a bit more refined and conservative?’ but that wasn't the case at all.
“The UK and Ireland has that panto culture, so they were really vocal in their responses.”
As for what she hopes people will take away from seeing the play as it now makes its way around the country, she said: “This is an example of a pretty happy family and they’re a great source of joy for audiences.
“You see parents with their kids, all of them engaged and enjoying the show, and the cast walk out on stage like they’re rock stars because there’s so much love for Bluey and her family. It’s about the love between family members and about taking those special moments to be together and enjoy them.”
The adaptation expands the seven-minute TV episode format into a fully-fledged theatrical production with a script by Bluey creator Joe Brumm, new music by Joff Bush (who also scores the TV version) and pre-recorded voices by original cast members, including Dave McCormack as Bandit and Melanie Zanetti as Chilli.
Moveable sets and actor-controlled puppets bring the story and characters to life. Rose said: “We very much wanted to represent the world of Bluey because when people come to this show they want to see Bluey on stage and to be in the room with her and her family.”
For the stage version the decision was made to use larger-than-life puppets. “The show is playing in large spaces,” Rose said, “and you want the kids at the back to have a great experience, so the puppets are quite large.”
She added: “And there are a lot of the games that the kids know from TV, as well as audience participation to keep them really engaged. It’s got something for the kids and it’s also got something for the adults. There’s a lot of artistry to the TV show and we translate that into a beautiful piece of theatre.”
The Olivier Award-nominated stage show has so far been seen by over a million fans worldwide. It follows on from the success of the multi-award-winning TV series, which ranks as the number one show on CBeebies in the UK and has been streamed over 450 million times since it launched on BBC iPlayer.
It has also had 5.7 billion views across its official Bluey YouTube channel.
You can buy tickets for Bluey’s Big Play at Connexin Live in Hull here.