"The Littlest Yak" by LasTheatre.

Lakeside, Djanogly Theatre.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love Children's Theatre, and especially around this time of year. I am in a very fortunate position in that I can go along and see a show like this appreciate the wonderful story-telling, the puppetry, the original music and the artistry that goes into Children's theatre, and go along without having a child to watch - mine are all now grown up - and relax and also appreciate the work that goes into making something technical and, not as some people may think with it being theatre for children, being easy, but being like the proverbial iceberg. What you see on top is only a fraction of what goes into making the whole thing.

The story is based on the book by Lu Fraser and Kate Hindley about a little Yak called Gertie, not just little, but the littlest, who doesn't want to be the littlest Yak, she wants to be a BIGGEST Yak. Nothing wrong with being ambitious!

Gertie eats as much as she can to try and make herself grow, but still feels just a little bit helpless. Then something happens that puts Gertie right at the centre of attention, making her feel very happy that she is not as big as the other Yaks.

With children's theatre, there's always a message interwoven into the fabric of the storyline that permeates a youngster's mind, Here the message is to celebrate YOU for who you are, and not for what you might be or could be (for now at least), and also not to be in a rush to grow up.

You can see the enjoyment that the youngsters get out of theatre aimed especially for their age group. There are parts where the audience are invited to dance, which can be done sitting down but there's never any pressure of audience participation, and I must also mention that there are relaxed performances of "The Littlest Yak" on Sunday 28 December as well as Saturday 3 January.

Let me introduce you to the characters in this piece of theatre...

There's Gertie, The Littlest Yak, who is very excitable and great fun to watch.

Gertie's Mum is called Fluffy Sue.

One of Gertie's friends is a bird called Barbara.

There's also a full herd of yaks, eight more in fact! This herd of yaks are handled by three humans called Louise, Darcey and Emily, who also narrate the story. Alexandra may also make an appearance in one of the other roles, or maybe several roles.

The puppets are absolutely lovely to look at, and you just fall in love with the story, the characters, the music, just everything about this piece of theatre is so lovely. The story telling reminded me a bit of the children's tv shows that I used to watch when a child. the sort where there is a story behind what you were watching; educational as well as entertaining, something I think is missing from so many tv shows aimed at the younger audiences nowadays.

The music written especially for the show is by Joseph Hardy and is as catchy as measles, but a great deal more pleasant. The opening number "The Big Yak Pack" is still running around my head at the moment as is another song called "What If"

This show is ideal for young audience goers as it is presented in such a way as to be easy to understand the story plus it's only 45 minutes long. the youngsters were only too willing to participate when required and by the looks on the faces of the kids as they were leaving, they had enjoyed the show as much as I had. the families went out into the cold Sunday evening with their eyes full of excitement, chattering away about Gertie and her friends.

Directed and written by Barra Collins.

"The Littlest Yak" is at Djanogly Theatre, Lakeside, Nottingham until Sunday 4 January 2026, so don't be sheepish, stop yakking and get some tickets before they're all gone. Now that would be baaaaad!