Theatre Royal Winchester has programmed a line-up of family shows and activities to captivate children and their grown-ups this July and August.
The school holiday break begins with Dragons and Mythical Beasts (Sat 22 – Mon 24 July) featuring a magical world of myths and legends including the colossal Stone Troll, the Tooth Fairy, the adorable Unicorn and of course, the Dragon.
This is a brand-new show from the creators of the West End smash, Dinosaur World Live – with spectacular, life-like puppets.
Next up for little ones – TV’s Milkshake!
Monkey is joined by everyone’s favourite Milkshake!
Friends such as Paddington and Noddy, plus presenters, for Milkshake! Live (Tue 25 July) – a fun family show packed with amazing songs, dances, laughter and audience interaction.
Then later this month there’s cause for celebration with Sarah & Duck’s Big Top Birthday (Fri 28 – Sat 29 July) as, not only is the original BAFTA-winning CBeebies show 10 years old but, this enchanting production with puppetry, storytelling and music tells of a very special circus day for Scarf Lady – joined by friends including The Ribbon Sisters, Flamingo et al.
August starts with the favourite musical, Grease (Thu 03 – Sat 05 Aug) featuring the friendships and romances of a group of high school kids in the 1950s – and made up of local young people, aged 8 – 21 years, who auditioned in Winchester in April to be a part of it.
It is presented by Rare Productions – the largest musical youth theatre group in the UK.
Later, London’s longest-running theatre magic show, West End Magic (Sat 26 Aug), is brought to the stage – with award-winning magic, mind-reading, music, hilarious comedy and variety from British Champion of Magic, Oliver Tabor, plus special guests.
Actor, storyteller and Guinness World Record holder, The Highland Joker – aka Mr Bubbles – takes to the stage with the interactive and fun, international award-winning The Bubble Show (Sun 27 Aug), combining magic with science to produce extraordinary soap bubbles of all shapes and sizes (bouncy, smoke filled, square, giant, even fire bubbles).
For young people and adults, the summer holidays wrap up with I’m Alive! A Celebration of Celine Dion (Fri 01 Sep) featuring multi award-winning tribute artist, January Butler – who, after rising through the ranks of talent shows and replicating the star’s vocals and mannerisms, has been described as ‘a young Celine Dion’ by Nicole Scherzinger! 
Finally, for those who would prefer to be in a performance than watching one, Play in A Day (Tue 01 Aug) is a project open to children in school years 3 – 7.
Participants will work with Playmakers’ Youth Theatre Producer to create an original play from scratch while exploring acting, improv, character development, costume and props – before performing the play for their grown-ups at the end of the day on the Theatre Royal Winchester stage.
For more information, visit: www.playmakers.org.uk/join-in/play-day.
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