Derek Bond’s Dinosaur World Live in Regent’s Park Open Air theatre is an interactive show for all the family.
Hosted by an intrepid explorer who travelled “across uncharted territories to discover a pre-historic world of astonishing (and remarkably life-like) dinosaurs.”
Our explorer interacted enthusiastically and passionately with the audience, giving the young children an opportunity to feel like they were actively participating in the exploration of “dinosaur world”. The storytelling element was cute and thorough without being too complicated and the dinosaur facts were engaging and effective.
We had the chance to meet a host of impressive creatures, including every child’s favourite flesh-eating giant, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Triceratops, and more.
The dinosaur puppets all had their own puppet masters who did a good job of bringing dinosaur movements to life. Being able to see the puppet masters actually maintained the balance in order to not scare the young children too much as I suspect without seeing them the toddlers might have thought that they were real! That’s how good the dinosaur bodies were.
The dinosaurs were crafted beautifully, you got a real sense of what they looked like although admittedly I expected them to be bigger for some reason. My adult brain had to keep reminding itself that the show is for children. This leads me to my next point; I took a 14-month-old and an 11-year-old.
The audience had children, toddlers, and babies of all ages but this is perfect for three to seven-year-olds. The one-year-old, dipped in and out of fascination before becoming distracted and it was a little too young for the 11-year-old, although he was able to show off his dinosaur knowledge which I think was a highlight.
Directed by Laura Cubitt, 50 minutes is the perfect length of time for this show which is a unique and fun experience for the whole family.
