Letting Julian Clary loose in the world of children’s stories feels like a high-risk strategy – so alert are his antennae to potential innuendo, the comedian could make even a picnic in the sunshine sound somehow risqué. Yet he has had huge success with his best-selling series The Bolds, about a group of hyenas living in disguise as humans in Teddington, west London, and which combine subtle messages about assimilation and identity with lashings of rambunctious child-friendly comedy. James Button‘s innovative, flexible set works brilliantly alongside Anna Watson’s excellent lighting design, taking us flawlessly from the plains of Africa to the kitchens of suburbia, a moving car and even underground, using colour and motion to exciting effect. I loved The Bolds, I love what they build up, and I had a laugh when they had to tell their kids about their secret and what to do with it. The kids had finally reached the age were they could be told about it, and to know what they are. David Ahmad as Mr Bold,Amanda Gordon as Mrs Bold, Mae Munuo as Betty Bold, Sam Swann as Bobby Bold and Charity Bedu-Addo as Minnie

The Bolds Go Green – The Bolds The Bolds Go Green – The Bolds

We know the holiday season is upon us when fairy tales and children’s storybooks run amok as stage adaptations to compete with the manufactured jolly of Yuletide cheer. The Bolds – Photo by Ellie Kurttz.Continue the hilarious antics of Teddington's most unusual family... As always, David Roberts quirky illustrations enhance the humour Best New Children's Books Guide, produced by the Publishers Association and published in the Guardian 2018 There are also illustrations and boy oh boy I loved them! They fit the hilarious family, the crazy antics that happened in their lives. It captured The Bolds perfectly, while I was reading I could just picture them like the way the artist did. :D All in all, this is sure to be a really fun show for all ages - including the grown ups. If the audience's reaction from last night is anything to go by, people are going to absolutely love it. Sheer joy radiates on The Unicorn Theatre main stage, in Julian Clary's on-stage adaptation of his well-loved book collection. Having seven in the collection, this play focuses on the first book - the story of The Bolds; a family just like the majority of us, who live in a nice house, have nice jobs and love a giggle. But there is one difference, they're hyenas. Yes, you heard it right - they've came across from Tanzania to live a life where they don't have to scrimp for the next meal. It is a great deal of fun with the twins played like real irrepressible children and a talented company singing, dancing Natasha Harrison’s nifty choreography and playing instruments alongside musical director Simon Wallace on keyboards.

The Bolds, Unicorn Theatre - Everything Theatre Review: The Bolds, Unicorn Theatre - Everything Theatre

Amanda Gordon as Mrs Bold, Mae Munuo as Betty Bold, Sam Swann as Bobby Bold and David Ahmad as Mr Bold There is a message about accepting difference, though it is pretty subliminal; this is geared for enjoyment, not preaching, fun for the youngsters and fun for the family. Things become more precarious for the human pretending hyenas following a visit to a safari park where they meet Uncle Tony, an ageing hyena who’s destined for extermination by the other hyenas in the animal park. Not to mention the threat posed by the irrepressible antics of Betty and Bobby who’ve already exposed their secret hyena identities by unwittingly exposing their tails to schoolmate, Minnie (Charity Bedu-Addo).

Julian Clary Press Reviews

Between 2005 and 2008, Clary wrote a fortnightly column for the New Statesman magazine. He has also published an autobiography, A Young Man's Passage, which covers his life and career up to the 1993 "Norman Lamont incident" at the British Comedy Awards. In 2007, Clary released his first novel, Murder Most Fab, published by Ebury Press. His second novel, Devil in Disguise, was published in 2009. His first book for children, The Bolds, was published by Andersen Press in 2015. When they arrived in England they had to learn where and how to get food, cross the street and hide their tails. When they ran out of money they got jobs. They had babies and were living the life. When their grumpy, nasty old neighbour saw them, he got suspicious. Were they going to be found out? Would they end up in a zoo? The show hums with an easy sense of playfulness, with the young audience happily shouting out comments and warnings as the adventure unfolds. Mae Munuo and Sam Swann scamper tirelessly about the stage as young Betty and Bobby Bold, munching on pens, papers and chairs, rubbing their bottoms on props and, of course, rolling about on the floor with laughter.

The Bolds - London Bridge Revealed The Bolds - London Bridge Revealed

The full cast is David Ahmad as Fred Bold, Amanda Gordon as Amelia Bold, Sam Swann as Bobby Bold and Mae Munuo as Betty Bold, Sam Pay as Mr McNumpty, Charity Bedu-Addo as Minnie and Jon Trenchard as Uncle Tony. Domestic jollity … David Ahmad, Mae Munuo, Sam Swann, Charity Bedu-Addo and Amanda Gordon. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian Grown-ups will recognise Clary’s own voice welcoming the audience and as the man on the safari park PA. They may find a couple of double meanings that pass over the youngsters’ heads and as things draw to a close there is just a hint of more in a budding bromance between Mr McNumpty and Uncle Tony (they get a repeat of a number together) but this is the children’s book Clary, not the caustic camp one. I like it—and I’ll bet your children will. Advertised as suitable for 6+, it is two hours plus interval; the first half is perhaps a tad too long for the youngest of them and Clary’s clever script goes too fast for those below school age (though there is one fart gag that would please them and they might like a reference to bum-rubbing territorial marking). A great book to share with a six-year-old. My boy spends hours reading through the joke collection which is superbly interwoven into the storyline.Julian Claryn Me Ponnekkaat kertoo nelihenkisestä lontoolaisesta perheestä, joka nauraa räkättää vähän väliä ja tekee kaikkensa pitääkseen erään suuren salaisuuden piilossa. Melko hyvin he tehtävässään onnistuvatkin, kunnes yrmeä naapuri alkaa tulla epäluuloiseksi ja pitää perhettä entistä tarkemmin silmällä. Lee Lyford's production is so colourful and full of energy. A regular at the theatre, he clearly knows how to make work for young audiences. James Button's set is a metallic pastille and neon combination, and alongside Anna Watson's vibrant lighting and Natasha Harrison's over the top, campy choreography, it all works. The entire ensemble are brilliant - no one is out of place, but certain stand outs include the twin duo Sam Swann and Mae Munuo - who are full of beans, always include the audience and their chemistry is electric. Charity Bedu-Addo is also fantastic; she shows off her strong ability to multi-role, performing as best friend Minni, a fellow hyena, and the original Mrs Bold who was eaten by a hungry croc. Bedu-Addo also delights in her own solo number - the music and lyrics written by Clary and Simon Wallace. These songs are catchy and you find yourself singing them on the walk home. But disguised within its colourful onstage mayhem, The Bolds is a strong moral tale about what it means to be an alien presence in a foreign land and the sacrifices necessary to blend in with the natives. Though he was also the most wild out of the Bolds. He did all sorts of things that could endanger their stay there.