The Sherling Studio Christmas shows at the Lighthouse Theatre in Poole are a huge past of the festive season for local theatre goers. Not only is it often a young person's first exposure to theatre, but the shows they put on are magical and capture imaginations. 

This year, the show gracing the studio's stage is The Glass Slippers by Tutti Frutti Productions. A reimagined version of the classic tale of Cinderella, with plenty a twist and turns. The show is aimed at younger audiences (suitable from age 3+), with a running time of 60 minutes, so I tasked my wonderful 5 year old princess obsessed reporter to let me know what she thought!

 As December draws in, Christmas lights twinkle, and families gather together, nothing beats heading to the local theatre to watch a good old British pantomime. There's something special about silly nonsense, shouting 'he's behind you' and watching actors make slight fools of themselves on stage. It's a type of show that definitely doesn't take itself seriously and evolves throughout its run to become something even more nonsensical than when it started. And the Poole Lighthouse pantomime this year is no exception. 

 Heading to the Lighthouse, Poole's pantomime is a Christmas tradition in our house. Every year we are blown away with how fantastic and fun their pantomimes are. With something to please everyone, we couldn't wait to head to see what they had in store for us this year.

Gracing the stage this time around was the tale of poor Dick Whittington, the story of the young boy from Poole who heads to London for fame and fortune. With villainous characters and catchy songs, it was a night that had adults and children laughing, cheering and singing along in their seats. Written and produced by Duncan Reeves Productions, who have led the way with the last two shows at the Lighthouse we knew we were in for a fab night.

Photo by: Richard Budd

We love a good sing along. We tend to have a musical soundtrack blasting at top volume in the car so we can sing at the top of our lungs. Whilst we tend to stick to current musicals like Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen, we are suckers for a good Disney sing along. Our favourite has to be Beauty And The Beast, it's definitely my childhood favourite and after Max did a summer workshop on it last year, he loves belting out the songs.

The lovely folk over at Lighthouse, Poole invited us to a sing along screening of the new Beauty And The Beast film hosted by the company Sing-a-Long-a. We have been to a fair few sing alongs recently, but none that were hosted by a company, so we were excited to get singing!

I have been a huge fan of the musical Rent for as long as I can remember. From singing "Seasons Of Love" with my drama friends as a teenager, to watching the film adaptation obsessively and learning every single word to "La Vie Boheme", I was obsessed. And when I found out that it had closed in the West End 10 years ago and I would probably never get the chance to watch it, I was gutted. That was until summer last year when I saw that there would be a 10th anniversary performance in London. The tickets were booked before I could even tell my friend we were going.

And no later than I had booked the first set of tickets, I found out they were going to take it on tour and it would be coming to my favourite local theatre, the Lighthouse, Poole. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to take my mum and introduce her to one of my favourite musicals of all.

There's something magical about watching acrobatics. Seeing people fly across the stage with such ease that you sit there with your heart in your mouth hoping they land in one piece. We were recently invited to the Lighthouse Poole, to see Barely Methodical Troupe's performance of Kin. Let's just say, we were blown away.

Recently I was invited to the Lighthouse, Poole to watch The Diary Of A Hounslow Girl. I don't normally get the chance to see something that isn't family friendly or kid's based so I couldn't wait to take my mum to see a show that was pretty close to our hearts. My mum lived right next to Hounslow and I knew that there would definitely be aspects I could relate to.

The Diary Of A Hounslow Girl is a one woman show written and performed by Ambreen Razia. It tells the story of a 16 year old Muslim girl growing up in west London and trying to balance her families traditions with growing up in a non traditional city. It covers everything from fights to weddings to love and dreams.

I honestly didn't know what to expect from the play, but in the space of the show I was laughing until my sides hurt and crying with such emotion because I knew exactly how the character was feeling. I've never seen such a whirlwind of a play, a play that just made me sit back and think "oh my god, that was amazing".

It's hard to explain just how powerful this play is without spoiling the plot. But it covers so many coming of age issues, that it reminds you behind every hardened teenage front is a human filled with way more emotions than you can comprehend. I left feeling as though I understood exactly how she felt, that all my teenage emotions were played out on stage.

The Diary Of A Hounslow Girl is a play that I've been talking about since I left the theatre. It's one that shook me and hit me hard in all the right ways. It's one that will stay with me for a long time. If you're going to see any play this year, make it this one.

From the moment they came on stage to the moment the cast left, they didn't stop engaging with the audience. From running through the audience to calling people up on stage, they really took their time to get to know the place and people they were performing to.

One thing I really loved was the social media interaction. During the interval they had a selfie frame where kids had the chance to capture their excitement. You are encouraged to tweet and facebook them for shoutouts during the show, which we did and Max absolutely loved the cast saying hello to him.

After the show they met the kids and offered to take photos and sign posters in the foyer. This was a really nice touch as obviously for some kids, this was their first experience of a music concert. The cast took their time to talk and spend time with the kids, making sure they enjoyed their time. Max loved having the chance to chat and tell them how much he loved it. He's still got his posted on the wall next to his bed!
 Thank you Lighthouse and Pop Factor for giving us an awesome night out. Pop Factor is touring the UK at the moment so don't miss it!

If you're looking for a show to lift your Christmas spirits then this is the one. The charming play will leave you wishing that you could have your own robin to help you along the way. Otto and the Robin is on most mornings and afternoons between now and December 24th so don't miss out!

There's nothing better to get you in the festive spirit than to go see a show. Each year since Max was little we've made a conscious decision to either see a panto, play or concert to get that festive feeling, and this year was no exception. We've packed this year with more Christmassy shows that I can count and this was the first, (and the one I was most excited about!) Peter Pan at the Lighthouse in Poole.

Erth's Dinosaur Zoo is an immersive puppet show all about these amazing creatures. There is a handful of dinosaur keepers that introduce you to each dinosaur, whilst the others control the dinosaur puppets. You can see them being moved and you are told they are puppets at the beginning but that doesn't stop even the adults getting a bit scared when the T-Rex starts roaring and snapping near your face!

In each section they invite members of the audience up to stage meaning that you could end up being the dinosaurs new best friend or even lunch! The show was nearly an hour long and kept Max captivated the whole time, which is pretty unheard of with his attention span.

The best bit? They have some of the dinos on hand after the show for a meet and greet. They did have one of the big dinosaurs in the theatre but we decided to skip that (the queue would have taken hours) and opt to meet all the baby dinosaurs out in the foyer. Max absolutely loved this as he got to hold the baby T-Rex. He's quite proud of that fact!