We're Going on a Bear Hunt

RACHEL BULLER
03 December 2009

Norwich Playhouse

Parents be warned: you might get wet.

Well only a little bit, but this unexpected soaking is just one of the many special surprises which brings the children's tale We're Going on a Bear Hunt to life on the stage so beautifully.

Michael Rosen's classic book is quite simplistic and it is hard to imagine it stretching to an entire stage show. Yet its simplicity is its magic.

The play sees the four characters, plus the baby and the bear, take you on a magical adventure with lots of singing, dancing and audience participation along the way.

Having read the book endlessly to my three-year-old Zach, I thought he would love to see it on stage, and the fact he wanted to stay in his seat and watch it all again says a lot about how enchanting and fun it was - it takes a lot to keep a small child still and occupied for an hour.

Running throughout the play is the familiar bear hunt rhyme, and the children in the audience delighted in screaming 'we're not scared' at every opportunity. But the biggest laughs from the children, and the biggest looks of fear in the adults' eyes, was the part involving mud - mud brought on stage in squeezy bottles. I won't say any more.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt runs at Norwich Playhouse until December 13.

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