Family shows coming to Greenwich

With the panto season done for most venues we are all looking forward to the year ahead, and at Greenwich Theatre we have some major productions in the pipeline. Our partnership with Jerusalem’s Jez Butterworth continues in the form of a revival of his suburban satire Parlour Song, and we also reunite with Anthony Spargo, writer of our smash-hit pantomime, for a new family adaptation of The Three Musketeers this summer.

We have even announced next year’s pantomime, which sees Anthony donning the famous hook to play the villain at the heart of Peter Pan. However, every year, as we look to the following year’s pantomime and hope to welcome back the thousands of people who came this year, we are all aware that audiences have a lot to choose from in London, and we can’t be complacent and assume the loyalty of our family audience. Therefore, we strive to programme family shows every month of the year, bringing some of the country’s best theatre companies to our stage to offer something for all ages.

For 2025, that starts on 2 February when Pied Piper Theatre Company bring their version of The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse to Greenwich.

One of Aesop’s fables, the story tells of two mice who decide to try out each other’s home – and who each discover that sometimes new can be exciting. This show marks the company’s 40th year of touring – which astonishingly means there are now parents bringing their own children to see the work that they enjoyed when they were young. There aren’t many theatre companies in this country on the touring network that can say that.

On 19 and 20 February, we hark back to the fun of panto when Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist Mama G comes to Greenwich with The Magic Bookmark. A storytelling show with original songs, the performance has toured all over the UK and recently made its Off-Broadway debut at the SoHo Playhouse in New York, so we are delighted to celebrate the power of storytelling in this unique way.

Then on 22 and 23 February another big name in family work – Little Angel Theatre – returns to Greenwich. The company has been bringing work here for years, from We’re Going On A Bear Hunt in the main auditorium to the Little Angel Miniature Travelling Circus in the studio. Now they are back with Persephone: A Tale of the Seasons for the very youngest of theatregoers. From catching bubbles from the bubbling brook to watching flowers bloom and feeling the warmth of the sun, this sensory exploration of the seasons has been designed for children aged 6-18 months, and is the perfect way to introduce them to theatre for the very first time.

After that, the Greenwich Children’s Theatre Festival is again scheduled for Easter and we are all set to welcome major titles like Fireman Sam, Julia Donaldson’s The Detective Dog, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and There’s a Monster in your Show alongside a host of other titles. With such a strong start, 2025 is already looking like one of our best years for family theatre ever.