Dinosaur World Live, York Theatre Royal, June 2022

I’ve always been fascinated by dinosaurs. As a young Hatter the original Jurassic Park hit the cinemas and I was instantly hooked on these ROARsome beasts. As an old(er) Hatter, I proudly display the iconic Jurassic gates and T-Rex in Lego – and it’s still my favourite film!

Dinos make the leap from screen to stage here, with Dinosaur World Live currently touring the UK. The production has toured the US, London’s West End and theatres up and down the country for a number of years. Audiences can expect a spectacular history lesson featuring a myriad of monstrous dinosaurs…some friendly, some less so!

Etheria Chan plays Miranda, daughter of a palaeontologist and something of a wild-child herself. Her boundless energy keeps the show pacey, and she is instantly warmed-to by the young audience. Part narrator, part historian and part explorer, she works the crowd and seems to thrive off the reactions from the audience.

All your classic dinos are here, from velicoraptors, a triceratops and T-Rex to perhaps the lesser known Giraffatitan and Segnosaurus. With interesting facts throughout, Miranda does a great job of imparting the history and keeping it lively and engaging.

Walking with Dinosaurs

The puppetry is akin to shows like War Horse or The Lion King, with cleverly articulated wearable dinosaurs alongside smaller rod and hand puppets. The creative team bring the dinosaurs to life with prehistoric precision, and it’s easy to look past the performers and believe you’re seeing living, moving creatures of the past.

Inviting children up on the stage, it’s a delight to see them react to the puppets as if real…a little nervous at first, then curious and finally intrepidly facing – and even feeding – the dinosaurs.

D’ya think he heard us?

A word of warning for little ears…Dinosaur World Live is loud! Whether it’s the screams from Miranda or the suitably fierce T-Rex roars, there were a few tears from unsettled children. The puppets too are incredibly realistic, and jokey comments about dinosaurs eating young children only exacerbate the waterworks!

The suggested age is 3+ but we saw much older children visibly upset, and would suggest – even on volume alone – that it’s more suited to 5 or 6 and up, but of course each child is different. Upset children were soon reassured by Miranda though, and the pace of the show meant the bigger and scarier beasts weren’t on stage too long.

Brief trauma aside, for the right age group Dinosaur World Live does a REX-cellent job of bringing the extinct back to life. And, with the recent film release of Jurassic World Dominion, dinos are the current hot topic once again…although to be honest, they never stopped being cool! Big kids too seemed to enjoy the dino-antics, and there are some truly impressive moments…with the T-Rex being, quite literally, head and shoulders above the rest.

Jurassic proportions?

Coming in a little short at only 45 minutes, we were expecting a longer show – however it’s an action packed production with plenty of variety and lots of interaction. Tickets are around £14-18 each depending on the venue, so it still represents good value compared to many shows. A shorter length may also be a Jurassic ‘Perk’ if bringing young children who get restless easily!

The meet-and-greet at the end was somewhat chaotic and rushed, but the children loved the chance to pet a baby T-Rex. At a previous performance they had another dinosaur out too though, which helped to spread the excited crowds out.

Our 6 and 8-year-olds really enjoyed it, and picked up a few new facts along the way!

MAGIC RATING