TV presenter Michael Underwood took his son were confronted by pirates, monsters and plenty of catch songs when they went to see Here Be Monsters at the Rose Theatre in Kingston…

Halloween was done and dusted a week ago, but it appears some monsters didn’t get the message and are hanging around at The Rose Theatre, waiting to entertain and frighten young children in equal measure.

Here Be Monsters is a musical stage adaption of the best-selling children’s book by Jonathan Emmett.

The story sees Captain Cut-Throat and his animal crew on the hunt for treasure hidden on a monster filled island. The Captain doesn’t believe in monsters and isn’t worried at all, but his crew are terrified and it turns out there’s a good reason why.

The show is packed with plenty of catchy songs and a good amount of audience interaction which my three year old son loved…when he wasn’t hiding under his coat!

Neither of us were familiar with the story, but that didn’t impact on our enjoyment of the show at all.

There are five actors on stage, all of whom do a fantastic job and play their own instruments and sing throughout. Also, their characters are quickly explained from the very beginning which is great and helped set the scene without needing any prior knowledge.

In some ways, this could be described as ‘pantomime-lite’, but I mean that in a positive way.

It’s not overbearing in the way some pantos can be, no innuendo or cheesy lines, just a few classic panto elements.

By far the most popular section (and the bit that had my son screaming out loud and hiding at the same time) was when the monsters began taking the crew members one by one.

“He’s behind you”, “over there” and “aaarrggh” were being shouted out so loudly by the young audience, I’d be surprised if people in Epsom didn’t hear it. Brilliant!

At only fifty minutes long, it’s the perfect running time for young children and the theatre recommends three years old and upwards which sounds about right to me. I loved taking my son to this enjoyable production and watch him being excited and scared at the same time. Even cynical old me couldn’t help joining in, so that’s definitely a good sign.

Here Be Monsters has three more performances at the Rose Theatre Kingston tomorrow (Saturday, November 7) at 11am, 2pm and 4pm, before continuing on its national tour. Go to rosetheatrekingston.org