Chester Tuffnut at the Polka Theatre

The other week I took my girls to see Chester Tuffnut at the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon and we had a brilliant time.

Polka recommend that the show is suitable for 2-5 year olds, so with one two-year-old and one five-year-old it seemed like a perfect match for us!

It was shown in Polka's "Adventure" theatre which is smaller and more relaxed than their main theatre, and perfect for toddlers.

We arrived in plenty of time so the girls had a chance to do some colouring, try out the rocking horses and rocking lion, and play outside for a bit before the show began.

We went in to the Adventure Theatre and settled down on the softly-carpeted floor to enjoy the show.  (There were some benches around the back of the room too for adults who didn't want to sit on the floor).

The girls were captivated right from the start.  The show was very gentle but full of fun and lots of laughs.

Chester is a "tree mole" who loves adventure, sleeps very little and is always on the lookout for new friends.  The show is the story of a few days and nights in his life, during which he seeks out new adventures with new friends, with varying degrees of success.

The set is beautiful with lots of lovely details to spot, and the woodland creature puppets were wonderful.

At the end of the show the children get a chance to "meet" some of the puppets and give them a gentle stroke.  My daughter was thrilled when one of the bats landed on her head!

I would definitely recommend this show to anyone with young children.  It's a wonderfully fun and gentle introduction to theatre and the setting of the Adventure theatre is perfect for the very little ones.