In 10 years time, my children won’t specifically remember the occasions that I picked them up from school, cooked our favourite pasta dish or watched their swimming lesson. But they will remember some of things that we did that were out of the ordinary. They will remember some of the memories that we made together. As we headed out of the door on Friday evening, I knew we were making memories. I was just hoping it wasn’t going to be because the whole family had got soaked to the skin sitting in a park on a Friday night watching a play.
We had a flask full of hot chocolate, a box of malteasers and some large umbrellas borrowed from a neighbour. We were heading to a Heartbreak Productions outdoor show in Walsall Arboretum. It was pretty exciting heading out in the evening and walking through an empty park to get to the bandstand where the show was being staged.
When I told Little Lady what we were going to see, she was extremely excited. In fact, we all were because we all love David Walliams’ cleverly written books. We were going to see one of our favourites on the stage - Gangsta Granny. Little Lady clutched her copy of the slightly damp and muddy book as we walked through the Arboretum to see the show (it cleaned up nicely with a wet wipe). She was determined to see how true to the book the play was.
The actors greeted us as we arrived. They worked the audience, chatting to the children, bringing out pieces of costumes for people to try on and explaining who was who and how it would work. It was relaxed! We parked up our three month old baby in her pram and settled down on our makeshift damp proof course. This type of theatre is extremely easy for families. Some families had clearly been to outdoor theatre before. They had camping chairs, rugs and impressive picnics. We were somewhere in the middle! We had a picnic blanket to sit on and the borrowed umbrellas.
Flavio Flavioli, star of David Walliams’ imaginary Strictly Stars Dancing, opened the show and set the scene that Ben, the lead character, was looking back on events of a year ago. As Ben recalled the events, the story began. We were hooked right from the start. There was a simple set but the main thing was the actors were brilliant. Mum was outrageously over the top and had a huge crush on Flavio. Dad’s dancing kept us entertained. Ben made a very very believable 12 year old and Granny, well, her naked yoga scene was hilarious.
The story followed the book. This was very important to Little Lady as it will be to other David Walliams fans. We watched out for our favourite bits and, yes, Granny even whizzed around on a mobility scooter for part of the show. The crown jewel heist scene was our favourite. We laughed as PC Fudge gave Granny and Ben a lift en route to commit the crime. The Queen was brilliant too, as was Gangsta Granny and Ben’s response to her when she caught them.
There was flamboyant dancing at times though the show, which kept the audience entertained. Flavio deserves a special mention in this. He was the one who got the audience fully involved in this aspect of the show. We were up on our feet dancing. The older generation learning to floss and the younger generation learning The Birdie Song. We also enjoyed joining in the actions to his ‘A-MAZE-ING catchphrase.
The show lasts around two hours including an interval. The time seemed to fly by though. Gangsta Granny is such a brilliant story and the actors so engaging to watch. We had typical British weather during the show. We popped up the umbrellas. Then we popped them down. The sun shone and our coats came off and later back on again. The actors told us that barring thunder and lightning the show goes on. Don’t let the weather put you off this brilliant family show. Go prepared and be the family who takes the impressive picnic. Enjoy making memories!
Thanks to Heartbreak Productions for inviting us along to review the show.
Gangsta Granny is touring many different venues in the UK and Ireland. https://tickets.heartbreakproductions.co.uk/theatre/Show/59/Detail
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