Go Green - It's Shrek The Musical. A Review

For some reason the Shrek films kind of bypassed us in our house. I had definitely seen the first two and I'd seen Puss In Boots.  The 10 year old had seen the first one but couldn't remember it.  In the run-up to Christmas, they were showing on BBC so I recorded them. We were going to visit Shrek's Adventure in London so I wanted the children to have an idea of what they were going to see.

Whilst flicking through the "What's On" at Wimbledon Theatre, I saw Shrek The Musical was coming to town.  I love a musical.

The New Wimbledon Theatre is a beautiful Edwardian building built in 1910. This does mean small seats, creaky toilets and a heating system possibly set to boil.  But don't let this put you off visiting; the transport links are great and there is plenty of parking available.

The musical follows the film accurately. The show opens with a little back story on Shrek and Fiona that you don't get from the Dreamworks film. They are both made to leave home at the age of seven and fend for themselves. Shrek in his swamp and Fiona banished to the tower to wait for her Knight in shining armour.

The costumes are fabulous, the acting is magnificent.  I won't give away how Lord Farquaad is on stage but Gerard Carey the actor playing him certainly stole the show and was a triumphant baddie in my opinion.  The 6 year old was either in peals of laughter, (especially when Fiona and Shrek were belching and trumping). or she was dancing in her seat. She was on the edge of her seat constantly. Although she was so hot by the interval she was actually topless!  Shrek is not just for the younger ones though.  There's plenty of adult jokes delicately positioned without taking any shine from the children's enjoyment.

If you are looking for somewhere to take your children and maybe introduce them to theatre then I can't recommend this highly enough.  We had an amazing evening and I think my children will be talking about this night out for a long time to come.