The Little Mermaid - Nottingham Playhouse Review

★★★★☆

Nottingham Playhouse's new play for 3- to 8-year-olds takes us beneath the waves to the home of Marina (Hannah Breedon), a young mermaid eager to explore the world above the sea. Filled with original music, colourful costumes and some loveable puppetry, this is a play that is sure to be a hit among the youngest theatre-goers, whilst also offering some fun pop culture references for the older children, and some sneaky asides for the mums and dads. Written by Joe Venable and Rob Gathercole, this play is fun from start to finish, holding the children's attention and fuelling their imagination with ingenious inventions, exciting heists and hilarious physical comedy.

Breedon's titular mermaid is a far cry from your usual Disney princess - this is a character obsessed with adventure, ready to attack problems head-on whilst also coming up with ingenious solutions to some tricky situations (one section teaches us about bioluminescent plants, as Marina creates some underwater lightbulbs). She is a strong role model for children and a worthy protagonist. From the moment we enter the theatre, Marina is on hand to introduce herself to the children, inviting them to join her on the theatre floor and asking them questions about sea life and science, which the children are more than happy to answer. This immediately puts all the children at ease, and helps to establish a sense of informality - this is a show where it is ok to stand up and shout out, and the actors even encourage this at times.

Opposite Breedon is the talented Ollie West, who spends his time racing around playing every other part, including Marina's father Triton and the evil villain Tamara. There's no room for confusion here, though. Each character has a different brightly coloured costume, and West bounces around the stage with a different kind of energy, making Triton a jolly, bumbling chap whilst Tamara glides around with all the air of a panto villain. Tamara offers Marina the opportunity to give up her voice in exchange for a day on land. Despite the children's protestations, Marina takes the potion and finds herself on the beach, where she meets adorable scientist Alex.

West's ability to transform himself so thoroughly that the children are booing him one minute in his Tamara get-up and then cheering him in his mad scientist outfit is incredible, and it is a testament to his performance that the children really take to Alex, amazed by his daft yet effective inventions. The plot is suitably twisty, with plenty for the children at the older end of the age range to enjoy, as Tamara coerces Marina into stealing a diamond from Alex. This lends itself to some subtle James Bond references, which the parents and grandparents in the audience will appreciate, whilst the kids will enjoy Marina dodging lasers in a display of superb physical ability.

Most of the jokes come courtesy of Marina's friend Sully, a turtle puppeted by West, who is most definitely a fan favourite, popping out from various parts of the set, much to the audience's delight. In fact, Emma Howson's set is one of the most delightful aspects of this play, simplistic yet with incredible detail, various bits lifting and folding out to reveal new information as the story progresses. It lends the play a cartoonish quality that fits the bill perfectly. The backdrop also features an integrated TV screen with video graphics courtesy of Sam Osborne. This video sometimes includes captions for the scenes. However, it is difficult to understand the purpose of this - if it is for accessibility purposes, it feels fairly substandard as not every line is captioned. The plot would be complex to follow for anyone who is hearing-impaired and relying solely on these captions (it should be noted that some BSL performances are available later in the run).

This play is the perfect treat as an introduction to theatre for younger viewers, whilst jokes related to the 'six-seven' meme and callouts to Ed Sheeran and Sabrina Carpenter will delight the older children. As part of the Playhouse's festive programme, this show is not Christmassy, but there is plenty of glitter and dancing regardless. Featuring several catchy numbers that are sure to be playing in your head for the entire journey home, this is a toe-tapping extravaganza that is a must-see for anyone with young children. It is simply fin-tastic!