Nearly 500 people joined us on Saturday 18th May to enjoy a brilliant day of free family theatre thanks to Shepton Mallet Town Council and Arts Council Lottery Project Funding. The rain held off as young theatre goers and families were treated to two acts in Shepton Mallet’s beautiful Collett Park.
The event was headlined by Squashbox Theatre, featuring Craig Johnson (who has toured and performed extensively with Internationally acclaimed Kneehigh Theatre). Young and old were captivated by the incredible array of self-crafted puppets, including the much-anticipated T-Rex!
Stones and Bones, explored dinosaurs, archaeology, fossils, dinosaurs and even included some ‘rock’ music (Craig is a specialist on the squashbox or accordion). Craig’s charm and wit had the audience gripped and his amazing characters such as Axel Hammer, wizards and Poppy the dinosaur had all ages giggling!
Audiences were welcomed by Tall Tails Theatre Company, who are based in Shepton Mallet. Abby and Richard arrived in their incredible human carousel and hot air balloon costumes as Madame Carol Sell and Mr Popsy. Audiences shared their dance moves with this brilliant interactive theatre piece and it was great to see so many young people up and dancing.
Feedback from the performances has been very positive with one young attendee commenting “It was amazing, funny and very cool!” And a parent saying "This is one of the nicest things we've done as a family. It's hard to find things to do on the weekend, this was really great." Some families enjoyed it so much they returned for the second show.