We were sent lots of information beforehand, which was useful in preparing us for the visit. Poppy relates to going to the theatre or other places given the last place of reference so she was insistent that we were going to the previous venue where we had been to watch a panto over Christmas! The paperwork sent over beforehand helped to explain that this was a different venue and a different show to the one we had seen before. The description of the characters helped to familiarise her with them so she had an idea of what was going to happen and she really connected with the You Tube video – she was ready to look out for the sparkly hats!
On the day of the performance, we left very early to ensure we arrived at the venue on time. It took us just over an hour to get there and the venue/parking was easy to find, which was a good job as it was freezing outside!
As we arrived at the venue, we were greeted by lots of people in sparkly hats – who were all genuinely interested in helping out. Poppy was asked if she would like a ball or other sensory toy to play with – she chose a red spiky ball – which she gave straight to me to look after! I also found someone who was handing out ear defenders – Poppy has tried these in the past and not got on with them but because she has real problems with noise, I thought we could try them again.
As the noise was getting overwhelming for her, we asked someone where we could go and she explained there was a chill out area or the atrium – she took us to the atrium which helped Poppy to calm down. Then it was time for the toilet. I was really pleased that the hand dryers had been switched off in there and paper towels provided. Unfortunately, Poppy couldn’t find any soap which caused a bit of a problem – she carries two building bricks (called quercetti) around with her – her ‘red and white’ as she calls them – and when she goes to the toilet and washes her hands, she puts them down on the floor – but if anyone touches them she gets really upset! So as she was wandering round looking for the soap, I was keeping an eye on red and white as, if anyone inadvertently touches them, this can trigger a meltdown! Hands safely washed and red and white picked up – phew!
I was then advised about the free teas and coffees which were great! The only thing I would say about these though was the organisation could have been better – all of the jugs of coffee had ran out and the staff were telling us there was some more coming but not removing the empty ones – so people kept coming back to get some from the empty jugs causing a bit of chaos in this area.
It was then time to go in! We were shown straight to our seat – the noise levels and lighting was great! We have been in theatres previously where it was too dark on entry and Poppy has just refused to go in. The captions on both sides of the stage helped to prepare for any “surprises”. The introduction by Sarah the Cook before the show commenced was the best we’ve seen – it really helped ‘set the scene’ for Poppy and make sure there weren’t too many surprises! the idea of showing what the bangs and flashes were like was excellent. Poppy has been quite frightened in the ‘baddie’ scenes in previous shows but they didn’t seem to phase her in this and i’m pretty sure that was down to the introduction at the beginning. Loved the little touch by Sarah the Cook at the start saying this was her favourite performance of all 🙂
The show itself was excellent – the acting was great, loved the storyline, the ‘traditional’ panto scenes were well executed – Poppy loved it! The only bit I wasn’t sure Poppy would cope with was the 3D scene – however, she tried on the glasses but would not wear them during the scene – i think this was a good thing as she was scared without them on!
We didn’t get to the chill out area in the end, but I see that as a good thing as that meant Poppy was quite happy to go into the theatre and watch the whole show.
In the end, Poppy didn’t wear the ear defenders, preferring to put her fingers in her ears during the performance instead (we will have to work on that!). As we left, the theatre staff were on hand for me to empty my bag of sensory toys ear defenders and 3D glasses!
Poppy decided that Dick Whittington is her favourite performance. Other theatres have a lot to live up to in Poppy’s opinion!
