Peppa Pig Live Musical in India: Is it Worth Watching?

As the capital of India, Delhi has a lot of cultural entertainment to offer its residents and visitors. However, entertainment for toddlers and little children is scarce. All that changed when ‘Peppa Pig Live! Peppa Pig’s Celebration!’ musical play came to India this year. Read on to know about my experience watching this show with my 3.5-year-old son, in Delhi, and whether it’s worth watching when it comes to your city.

PEPPA PIG LIVE! PEPPA PIG’S CELEBRATION!

Parents of children born in recent years are probably familiar with the animated British pig called Peppa, and her family and friends from the animal world. The simple language, relatable themes and short duration of each cartoon in this series, appeals to every child. This holds true for boys and girls, despite having different personalities and interests. Parents also appreciate Peppa’s clean content and universal appeal.

Peppa Pig is not just a phenomenon in the UK, where she originated, but all over the world. India, too, has a large fan following of this character, with Peppa Pig themed birthday parties and presents being in huge demand.

Keeping this in mind, a live musical play about Peppa Pig is a fantastic idea. The group known as ‘Peppa Pig Live!’ has produced and performed different plays over the last few years, in many countries. However, 2019 is their first time in India, where they debuted with the popular show called ‘Peppa Pig’s Celebration!’.

A scene from the musical play

THE MUSICAL SHOW:

The show in Delhi was performed at the Siri Fort Auditorium. There were four shows over Saturday/Sunday- one at 11:30 a.m. and one at 3:30 p.m. I believe each show was sold out well in advance! The run-time of the play is 55 minutes with a 15-minute interval, and fortunately things were not delayed, as they sometimes can be in India.

There were various price categories of tickets, beginning from INR 500 going up to INR 6000 per seat, with mid-range seats going for INR 2350. Children under two years of age are not allowed.

The storyline of the play centres round a photo album containing some of Peppa’s most memorable moments with her family and friends. As she looks at each picture, she recreates the actual scene in her mind, which is then enacted for the audience. Each memory is from a popular episode of the TV show- such as Peppa’s birthday party, a family picnic and playing dress-up with Suzy Sheep.

While the animated characters are played by actors in life-sized costumes, there are some human characters as well, to help the costumed ones move around the stage, while adding to the narration, song and dance. The show is highly interactive in nature, where members of the audience are encouraged to participate by singing, jumping, clapping and dancing along.

THE ORGANISERS OF THE SHOW:

The original proprietors of the show are Astley Baker Davies Ltd. and Entertainment One UK Ltd. In India, LIVE Viacom18 and BookMyShow have tied hands to take it across 8 cities in the country and perform 78 shows. Presented by ICICI Bank Credit & Debit Cards, the show began in November in Mumbai, before moving to Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.

The venues of the musical plays also sell official merchandise from the Peppa Pig brand, which is brought to India by Viacom18 Consumer Products.

REVIEW OF ‘PEPPA PIG LIVE! PEPPA PIG’S CELEBRATION!’ SHOW: SHOULD YOU WATCH IT?

Finally, let’s get to the most important question- is it worth investing in the expensive tickets for this musical play?

My son is a huge fan of the Peppa Pig TV show. He also enjoys visual storytelling of any kind- puppet shows, book narrations, and any kind of theatrical performance. So, obviously he loved the show! He sat transfixed for the entire duration, spoke about it endlessly afterwards, and even wanted to re-watch it the next day. Even as an adult, I enjoyed the show. I liked that it was not too long, appreciated the vibrant and unwavering energy of the performers, and enjoyed the audience interaction through singing and dancing. However, that’s not to say the show didn’t have its glitches.

The biggest problem was that we had to buy separate tickets for our toddlers. Unfortunately, these seats went unused, as the little ones couldn’t see while seated in them. One parent had to keep the child on their lap, in order for the kids to have a clear view of the stage. A colossal waste of a ticket, I felt!

There was an immense crowd for goodies at the café during the interval, which became quite unruly, as people refused to stand in line. After waiting for eons, we managed to get bite sized cups of stale popcorn, which was quite disappointing. However, this was the auditorium’s fault, not the organisers’. Getting in and out of the venue was also a bit tricky with the numerous cars and irate drivers.

Some of the parents we were with, felt that their children got bored in the last 15 odd minutes of the show, as it was a bit repetitive. In fact, the slightly older children didn’t enjoy the show at all, as they’ve simply outgrown Peppa Pig.

The fact that the storylines were taken directly from the TV show could be seen as an advantage as well as a disadvantage. For example, my son connected with each storyline well as he already knew it, but some children thrive on ‘newness’ and this repetition may not go down well with them.

All said and done, I feel you should buy tickets for this show, on the basis of two things- your child’s interest in Peppa Pig, and his/her personality. If he/she is a fan of the cartoon, definitely buy the tickets. In fact, even if your child is unfamiliar with Peppa Pig, they may enjoy the show for its novelty factor. However, if your child does not enjoy sitting in an enclosed space watching the same thing for a long period of time, then you should avoid the show.

I hope my opinion helped you in deciding whether to buy tickets or not. A schedule for the show is available on BookMyShow. Did you watch ‘Peppa Pig Live!’ in your city? What did you think of it? Did your child enjoy it? Tell me in the comments section below! Please do share this post with someone that may benefit from reading it.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Cities the show is playing in: Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.

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