Our Billionaire Boy Theatre Review

 

My boys have long been fans of the comic and irreverent writing style of David Walliams so they were very excited when I said we had been invited to go to see Billionaire Boy at a west end theatre.  If you are a regular reader of Navigating Baby you may know that one of our son’s has struggled with literacy and Slime by David Walliams was one of the first books I could actually get him to willingly read so taking him to the theatre and seeing a book come to life was not only fun, but also a chance to inspire his reading progress further.

We were gifted the tickets to the press performance, but with no requirement to write or post anything. This is our Billionaire Boy review and is our honest opinion.

Going to the west end

Heading into the west end to a theatre to see the Billionaire Boy wouldn’t have been something I batted an eyelid at, but in our current time I will admit I was a bit daunted by the prospect of being around so many people and being inside with them…

Nimax Theatres – The Garrick

I needn’t have worried too much as the Garrick Theatre owned by Nimax has taken every measure they can to keep their audience safe as they return to the theatre. The seats are more spaced out, there are gaps between family groups, you can order drinks from your seat and there is hand sanitizer all around. You can read more here:  Nimax Theatres

The Billionaire Boy theatre set

The first thing we saw when we entered the auditorium was a lot of loo roll! A huge structure of Bog Fresh towers greets you and this forms the basis of the set. It is really so clever with different parts opening to reveal the various locations in the play such as the corner shop and the school. There is even a small helicopter hidden in there!!! It is simple but extremely effective.

 

The show!

The Billionaire Boy theatre show really surprised me as I hadn’t understood that there would be singing and dancing too. It was so much fun.

The whole show is lively and engaging and as my eldest said ‘surely that wasn’t an hour’ time flies by as it is a riot of quick changes from the cast, funny quips and catchy tunes.

The cast is small and apart from the central character Joe they all play several roles. Lord knows how they manage to change so quickly. It is quite extraordinary. Each of the actors is highly convincing in each of their roles. I think my favourite character depictions were of the gold digging girlfriend and the bullying twins (the grubs). They were very funny! Actually though I also absolutely loved the dinner lady character and she had my boys laughing out loud. In fact most of the show had us laughing – the references to bums helped lots with that as my boys are always tickled by anything toilet related.

As with many children’s stories there is a positive message running through the play; one of being yourself being enough and finding your true friends that way.

All in all we thought the adaptation for the stage was awesome, the actors were fantastic and the whole experience was just joyful.

To book your tickets head here but be quick as this production is only in London until 22nd August

BILLIONAIRE BOY TICKET BOOKING

Meeting the man himself

The final treat for my boys was that David Walliams was actually at the theatre and they were able to meet him and have their favourite books signed. This is a thrill that will stay with them for a long time I am sure.