Review: Twirlywoos, New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth

Start talking about Great BigHoo, Toodloo, Chickedy and Chick in some social circles and your friends will assume that you aren’t feeling well, should lay off the illicit substances and really need some sleep – preferably about a week’s worth – and that you should definitely eat more fruit and vegetables.

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But those of us who also need sleep but for more wholesome reasons know that they are the Twirlywoos, mainstays of the BBC’s CBeebies channel. Perhaps not quite the John, Paul, George and Ringo of pre-schoolers but possibly their Duncan, Lee, Simon, and Antony (pick THAT reference out, pop lovers).

And so it came that on a sunny Thursday afternoon, we came to be sitting in the New Theatre Royal, along with dozens of other parents and little ones, waiting for the loveable birds to arrive.

At first three puppet seagulls arrive, being carried around the theatre and squawking at the little ones. Most of the children are quiet at first, sitting obediently on parents’ knees. It’s a sign of how well-judged the show is that they warm up by the end and are joining in with the actors on stage when asked, for example, what their favourite pizza is.

The Twirlywoos television programme is gently educational, with some words being taught, but (certainly in our house) its popularity comes from its gentle pace, silly slapstick jokes and bright colours. All of these ingredients are here in the hour-long show. It starts with a routine in a launderette where the Twirlywoos make a mess to the bemusement of a customer. And then the formula is repeated in a pizza restaurant where they knock the rolling pin to the floor and make their own pizza of ‘strawberry, spaghetti and beetroot’ which despite its contents is declared delicious.

It’s such good-natured fun and it’s also easy to forget that there are humans standing behind the puppets and instead lose oneself in the daft action. Certainly a stream of happy little faces at the end testified to the fact that it was a hit with the fans, and it proved an enjoyable hour of fun all round.