Slapstick Family Theatre Review, HOME Manchester (Review Visit)

Last Friday we visited HOME Manchester for the very first time and we had an amazing night out! Slapstick is performing until this Saturday 22nd December and the group of 5 Dutchmen are true all-rounders. An amazing array of instruments played, perfect comic timing and complete commitment to character make it a unique show that really is a great night's entertainment for anyone.

We took the tram down and HOME Manchester is really easy to find, 5 minutes walk from Deansgate And Castlefield Station at Tony Wilson Place. It's gorgeous down there and the area was alive with people excited for Christmas. The HOME bar was really busy, but we were still served drinks quickly.

The show started before we even took our seats, as an 'elderly infirm man' wandered through the crowds with his walking frame, making the crowd laugh by getting in the way of everyone. Once we were in the auditorium the actors were all wandering around warming up the crowd and swapping the sweets and crisps of any willing participants.

The stage set is a wall full of instruments, as well as instruments on the floor including a self-playing piano. The cast play everything else themselves and they are truly excellent musicians.

You are taken on a journey through musical time, from Music Hall to modern day hits with a German/Dutch? twist. It really was amazing and my boys were wide-eyed and open-jawed the whole time. Projections onto the wall included extra characters, backdrops and film scenes that played alongside live action. It was excellent.

Everything had a touch or more of humour and we all laughed aloud many times. It was clever slapstick reliant on timing and perfect positioning, and the performers were non-stop. There are just a couple of times that there is quieter, slower music, but aside from that there is rarely ever only 1 thing happening on stage.

The cast are incredibly talented and clearly love what they do. I'm so glad they shared it with us. An absolutely brilliant night out which will make you laugh and smile all week, and really make you wish you'd taken up playing instruments when you were young...

I'd say best suited to absolutely anyone aged around 5+. This is a 1 hour 50 minute show with a 20 minute interval and that's a long while for younger children to sit. My boys are 8 and 10 and both loved it as much as we did, and if I'd taken my Grandma she'd have loved it too.

Slapstick is playing at HOME, Manchester until Saturday - with shows at 7pm each day, plus an extra 2pm show on Saturday 22nd December.
Find out more information and book tickets on the HOME website.

PS: Arrive early. We were enjoying the antics of the cast 15 minutes before the show even 'officially' started and the house lights went down. There was always someone on stage entertaining the crowd through the interval too...

Our visit was free for review.