Katherine Macalister and kids are captivated by a creative display by a CBeebies favourite

‘How would a CBeebies show about crafting transfer to the stage?’ I asked myself before turning up this afternoon to the New Theatre Oxford to see Mr Maker and the Shapes Live. Turns out the answer is ‘Without an awful lot of crafting!’. The kids didn’t seem to miss that aspect though and were thoroughly entertained for the hour and a half show – they spent a lot of time joining in with songs, dances, clapping and the whole performance. When the ‘live’ shapes came on they were as fun and entertaining as they are on the TV, and the children loved them.

Some ‘not-so-positives’: too much singing and dancing rather than making – could the Mr Maker team have been more creative with what they could ‘make’ in a live show? I think most of the audience would say the answer is ‘Yes’. I was also surprised that the audience members invited onto the stage weren’t all children, for a children’s show – I think the children might have reacted better to kids doing the animal noises to the tune of ‘Old MacDonald’ rather than adults. I also felt the interval was unnecessarily long – too long for small children at an already late time of day (the cynical part of me says it was an opportunity to sell more Mr Maker merchandise?). I was disappointed that the live shapes didn’t appear until the second half of the show, and the end of the show ‘make’ did feel more like a sales pitch for Mr Maker products rather than a cohesive part of the whole show.

Overall though it was definitely great live entertainment for kids. Mr Maker was extremely good, very energetic (despite unfeasibly tight trousers!) and great with the kids, and getting all members of the audience involved. You could forgive them missing a bit of crafting when the rest of the show went down so well with the audience. When I asked my five-year-old what part he thought was the best, he summed it up perfectly: ‘All of it’.

3.5/5