Find shows, in date order

Date: 22 – 26 October 2024

Age range: Under 2s are not permitted

Running time: TBC

Location: Mayflower Theatre

Price: From £24
Family Ticket; Up to two children under 16 half price with every full paying adult. Only available on Bands A-D

Direct from London comes the smash hit family musical 101 Dalmatians.

When fashionista Cruella de Vil plots to swipe all the Dalmatian puppies in town to create her fabulous new fur coat, there’s trouble ahead for Pongo and Perdi and their litter of adorable, tail-wagging young pups.

Date: 26 October 2024

Age range: Best suited to those aged 7+

Running time: 85 minutes (plus interval)

Location: Shaftesbury Arts Centre, 13 Bell Street, Shaftesbury SP7 8AR

Price: Adults £12. Under 18s/SAC Members & Friends £10.

Solve a spooky mystery! Interactive, funny, playable theatre for families,

Something’s going bump in the night! Agents Dali and Kahlo of top-secret global creative agency Company of International Artists, receive a code red call. This means only one thing: ART IN PERIL!

Date: 26th October

Age range: 7+

Running time: 40 mins

Location: Pavilion Dance South West

Price: £8 per ticket

Little Murmur is a new dance theatre show for families and schools, that features groundbreaking projection, an extraordinary soundscape and a blizzard of paper and confetti.

An honest and heart felt conversation about the trials and tribulations of living with dyslexia, facing challenges and overcoming the odds.

Date: Tue 29 Oct 2024

Age range: 3+

Running time: 55 mins (no interval)

Location: Lighthouse Poole (Sherling Studio)

Price: From: £10.49

A new Family Show and Augmented Reality Experience. Moving house to a new city where it always rains, Kit is alone. Making friends is always hard, but here, it feels impossible. The rain beats down on the roof and drips down the window panes, trapping Kit in the quiet stillness of their dingy bedroom. But, one night, when idly scribbling to pass the time, the swirls and whirls on the page giggle into a life of their own, and a very unusual adventure unfolds!

A story about the magic of creativity, how we reach out to each other in the darkness and together, bring the impossible to life.

Date: Wed 30 Oct 2024

Age range: 6+

Running time: 1h 30m (incl interval)

Location: Lighthouse Poole

Price: From: £17.50

The cheekiest, funniest, most revolting science show in the world.

Brace yourselves for BBC Gastronaut Stefan Gates’ hilarious, highly-explosive new family show, packed with science stunts and spectacular experiments. Expect enormous bottoms, f*rt machines, snot cocktails and pee-powered fireworks transforming revolting biology, physics and chemistry into educational hilarity.

Date: Sat 16 Nov 2024

Age range: 4-7 years and SEND audiences

Running time: 45 mins (no interval)

Location: Lighthouse Poole (Sherline Studio)

Price: From £10.50

Milly is bored! She’s stuck at home; it’s raining outside, and she’s played with all of her toys. She finds an amazing pair of shiny talking wellies and discovers their secret power to splash you to any time and place you desire…

Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Galoshes of Fortune, The Wellies is an immersive story about magic, splashing, and appreciating the joys of the world you come from.

Date: 3 – 7 December 2024

Age range: Recommended for ages 4+
Under 2s are not permitted

Running time: Approximately 2 hours and 25 minutes including an interval.

Location: Mayflower Theatre

Price: From £29.50

Elf, the hit Hollywood blockbuster movie has been supersized into a live spectacular stage show for Christmas 2024. The story is enhanced with amazing film backdrops on a huge LED screen. It also has Santa’s flying sleigh, an audience snowball fight, indoor snowstorm, a giant candy cane journey from the North Pole, and aerial cirque stars.

Date: 4 – 14 December 2024

Age range: All ages, under 2 allowed contact box office for free ticket

Running time: 60 minutes

Location: MAST Mayflower Studios

Price: From £16.50

The critically acclaimed production of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show created by Jonathan Rockefeller features a menagerie of 75 lovable puppets. The production faithfully adapts four stories by author/illustrator Eric Carle: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, 10 Little Rubber Ducks, The Very Busy Spider and of course, the star of the show –The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Date: Sat 7 – Tue 24 Dec 2024

Age range: 3+

Running time: 1 hr no interval

Location: Lighthouse Poole (Sherling Studio)

Price: From £12.50

The real story… of a girl who is brave, strong, clever, and determined to prove herself. With a top team of actor musicians, songs, dancing, and inventive design, all thrown in with a bit of sparkle and magic for good measure!

Dates: Sat 7 Dec 2024 – Sun 5 Jan 2025

Age range:

Running time: Approx. 2.5 hours including interval

Location: Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre

Price: From £18

With incredible 3D special effects, Jack and the Beanstalk opens on Saturday 7 December. Behold, this fee-fi-fo-fabulous reimagined romp through a classic tale you thought you knew!

Relaxed Performance: Tuesday 17 December at 10:30am

Date: Thu 12 Dec 2024 – Sun 5 Jan 2025

Age range: 7+

Running time: approx. 2h 15m (inc interval)

Location: Lighthouse Poole

Price: From £15

Our princess is ready to take on a brilliant new adventure beyond her castle walls, but the evil Carabosse has other ideas. Can true love save the day? One kiss is all it takes.

Expect tons of laughter and spectacular special effects as CBeebies and Lighthouse favourite, Chris Jarvis, puts the magic into this classic fairytale.

Date: 14 December 2024 – 5 January 2025

Age range: All ages are welcome, including under 2s. For under 2s sharing a seat with an adult, please phone the box office on 02380 711811 or visit the box office within the theatre in the hour preceding the show to obtain their free ticket

Running time: Approximately 2 hours including an interval.

Location: Mayflower Theatre

Price: From £19.50

After their first triumphant Mayflower Theatre pantomime last year in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, street dance sensations, Ashley Banjo & Diversity, and award-winning actor and comedian, Kev Orkian, are coming back to climb a beanstalk of gigantic proportions to cloudland in the spectacular family pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk. Joining them this year will be West End actress, Anne Smith (Annie, Chess, Mamma Mia.

BSL, Captioned, Relaxed and Audio Description shows available - check site for dates

Date: 22 – 31 December 2024

Age range: All ages welcome including under 2s. For under 2s sharing a seat with an adult, please phone the box office on 02380 711811 or visit the box office within the theatre in the hour preceding the show to obtain their free ticket

Running time: 2 hours with an interval

Location: MAST Mayflower Studios

Price: From £12.50

Join Rat, Badger and Mole on Toad’s BIG Musical Adventure as the classic tale of The Wind in the Willows is brought to life packed with musical hits, comedy and thrills for all the family.

50 young people will take you on a wonderful journey through the seasons along the banks of the Test, down the open road (watch out for Toad in his motorcar!) around the snow- covered New Forest, and through the Wild Wood (beware of those weasels!) to the magnificent Toad Hall.

BSL & Audio Description: Sat 28th Show