Working on the premise that young children enjoy and are reassured by repetition, the 100 episodes of In the Night Garden follow essentially the same format. The characters appear in sequence and perform their theme song; they encounter each other in the garden thanks to the barest sketch of a plot; their day's activities are recounted to them as a bedtime story; finally each one is tucked up in bed. So expectations for originality in the live show are low, especially considering that its tiny audience members would probably be content merely to witness Igglepiggle and friends in the fuzzy-fur flesh and to sway along to their favourite tunes.
But though Andrew Davenport, the show's creator, writer and composer, is undoubtedly a canny operator, he is not cynical: he has a genuine desire to entertain and enrapture children. And it shows in the care he has taken to make In the Night Garden Live! a credible piece of theatre. Directed and choreographed by Will Tuckett, the play employs all manner of tricks to recreate the surreal world of the Night Garden, ranging from CGI to puppetry to a few well-placed bubble machines. And the more faithfully it adheres to the TV show – not least the weird games it plays with perspective – the more the play surprises. One moment Makka Pakka is adult-sized, the next he is a cuddly puppet, balancing on his manipulator's knee to reach Igglepiggle's face – a wonderfully touching sight.
At an hour, the show is too long for its young audience, and Davenport's wistful, charming music doesn't get the prominence it deserves: if only some of the reported £1m budget had gone towards a live orchestra. But it doesn't stint on thoughtful invention, something my three-year-old daughter appreciated as much as I did.
