[star rating =4/5]
This charming interactive piece of children’s theatre proved to be fun for children of all ages. With bits of history and small references to Pirates of the Caribbean woven in, it was entertaining, educational and highly enjoyable.
Eden Ballantyne (aka Captain Jake), warmed up his audience by telling them about how his career as a pirate started. Telling the story in a very interactive style and often quizzing the audience about life as a pirate, Captain Jake quickly won over his audience – child and adult alike.
Certain points had a slight Horrible Histories feel to it, telling somewhat grisly facts in a light-hearted and engaging way.
There were some adult jokes in there for the parents to have a good giggle at, rounding out the show as an inclusive piece of family entertainment.
While hearing about Captain Jake’s story and life on the high seas was highly entertaining, it did take quite a while for the search for the Red Queen to get underway. It was only during the last fifteen minutes of the hour-long performance that Captain Jake summoned volunteers from the audience to be part of his crew to look for the Red Queen.
Perhaps Ballantyne should consider a more balanced ratio between the backstory and the story itself.
