As a mother of a 3 and 7 year old, our household is well versed in many, many Julia Donaldson books. We of course enjoy the annual Christmas televised story and have seen a Julia Donaldson stage production previously (Room on the Broom). The Baddies however is not a story that was on our radar so I wasn’t sure what to expect at all with this play. 

The Baddies are the meanest, nastiest ghost, witch and troll in the land. They just adore being bad, and fight over who is the worst. When a little girl moves into a nearby cottage, the Baddies can’t wait to scare her out of her wits. But the little girl quickly shows them that you don’t have to be big to be brave, and baddies don’t always win.

The stage version is wonderfully adapted with fantastic songs by Joe Stilgoe (Zog and Zog and The Flying Doctors) which got children and adults alike singing and dancing along. The show is narrated by Mama Mouse (Lottie Mae O’Kill) who is just fantastic and really transports you into the story. Lottie’s version of this character is just perfect, her singing wonderful and energy palpable. The whole cast in this performance were great, a couple of particularly stand out characters (as well as Mama Mouse) for us were the ghost/cat (James Stirling) who both my son and daughter thought was great, my son particularly commenting on how well he pretended to drink tea and his ventriloquism, and my daughter loving the cat solo! ‘The girl’ (Yuki Sutton) is also wonderful, again with fantastic singing ability and a very energetic and embodied performance. 

The beauty of this story and this adaptation by Katie Beard is the message.  The Baddies is about kindness and how being good is better than bad but even more than this is the beautiful message at the end that everyone has a place because of their uniqueness and in this current climate it was fantastically positive and demonstrates how powerful children’s theatre is. A lot is packed into this 60 minute performance and we were all sad when it ended. This is probably one of the most fun, happy and engaging performances we have seen, particularly with two children of different ages! The Baddies is on tour around the UK until June 2025. 

We watched this production at The Lighthouse Poole which as a family we love. This show was in the main theatre which is modern, spacious and comfortable and all seats have a great view. The Lighthouse has a great cafe/restaurant ‘The Beacon’ which I didn’t know served dinner but as this production was in the evening we saw the restaurant beautifully set up for dinner and the menu looks (& smells) delicious! 

The Lighthouse is a nationally significant and regionally important multi-arts venue that is one of the cultural gems of Dorset. It’s in a great location in the heart of Poole, close to the train station and with lots of easy (& affordable) parking around. The Lighthouse also supports ‘The Theatre for Every Child’ campaign which ensure that every child is able to go to the theatre by the time they leave school. The Lighthouse is passionate about developing creative young people and in 2024 launched ‘Lighthouse academy’, a hub offering young people opportunities to engage in lots of different creative activities including creative writing and technical courses alongside performing arts and marketing. It is also home to the ‘Dorset School of Acting’. The Lighthouse’ commitment to community and young people deserves recognition.