I must confess that it took me a while to get into the children’s cartoon Hey Duggee. So scrambled was my brain when fatherhood began that I would often stare at it slack-jawed as the multilayered writing and smart gags flew over my head. This musical theatre version, co-adapted by director Matthew Xia and Vikki Stone, is no different. It bombards your senses from the off with fluorescent colours, high-pitched voices and vibrant songs. I half worry that my fellow critics – Romy, 6, and Teddy, 3 – might spot my bewildered expression and have to shout “keep up Dad!”.
On entering the theatre we are handed sheets of stickers with various badges to “earn” as the show progresses (only two sheets, though, for a family of four – what are the kids going to do?).
