Bluey's Big Play at a glance

Show
Bluey's Big Play
Venue
New Wimbledon Theatre, South West London
Address
93 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London SW19 1QG
Nearest station
Wimbledon (10 min walk; Tube, Thameslink, South Western Railway, Tramlink); South Wimbledon (15 min, Northern line)
Genre
Family theatre with puppetry — Olivier-nominated stage adaptation
Running time
Approximately 50 minutes, no interval
Age guidance
3+ (under-16s must be accompanied by an adult; babies under 18 months free in arms)
Dates
28 July – 2 August 2026 (six-day run only)
Price range
From £14 (typically £14–£25)
Original story by
Joe Brumm (Bluey TV series creator)
Music by
Joff Bush (Bluey TV series composer)
Voices of Mum & Dad
Melanie Zanetti and Dave McCormack (original TV cast, recorded)
Producers
Andrew Kay & Associates and Cuffe & Taylor with Windmill Theatre Company for BBC Studios
Awards
Nominated for 2024 Olivier Award for Best Family Show

Expert Review: Bluey's Big Play at the New Wimbledon Theatre

4.5
★★★★½

LTH Expert Rating

Reviewed by the London Theatre Hub editorial team. Last updated: 11 May 2026.

The Verdict

The world is awash with licensed-children's-IP-on-stage productions: the cynical kind that exist because a TV property is selling and someone has worked out that parents will spend £80 to sit in a theatre with their fans. Bluey's Big Play is not that. The show was made by the same creative team that makes the TV series — original creator Joe Brumm wrote the story, regular composer Joff Bush wrote the songs, the voices of Mum and Dad are the actual TV cast — and the result is a genuine extension of the show's small-screen warmth into a 50-minute live experience. There is no padding, no awkward audience-participation singalong shoehorned in for the sake of it, and no condescension. It is a real piece of family theatre.

The puppetry, by the brilliant Adelaide-based Windmill Theatre Company, is the production's hidden masterstroke. Bluey and Bingo are operated by visible puppeteers in blue and red costumes, and within about thirty seconds of the show starting almost every child in the audience has stopped looking at the puppeteers and is looking only at the pups themselves. That's the test of good puppetry, and it passes it. The Olivier nomination in 2024 for Best Family Show was deserved; the production's continued international success across the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Europe, Singapore and South Africa is no fluke. The Wimbledon engagement is a rare opportunity to catch it in a proper West End-scale theatre in south London — the New Wimbledon's 1,670-seat Edwardian auditorium is a far cry from the cavernous arena venues some of the tour's stops use.

What Makes It Special

  • Made by the actual Bluey creative team. Joe Brumm wrote the story; Joff Bush wrote the music; Dave McCormack and Melanie Zanetti recorded their TV roles as Bandit and Chilli specifically for this production. This is unusual in the licensed-IP-on-stage world, where many shows are produced by third parties under licence with minimal involvement from the original creators. The continuity shows.
  • Genuinely skilled puppetry. Windmill Theatre Company are one of Australia's leading children's theatre companies and have built a worldwide reputation for their craft. The Bluey, Bingo, Mum and Dad puppets are designed and built to match the TV characters at a scale that reads to a 1,500-plus-seat house.
  • The story is recognisably a Bluey story. Dad wants quiet time. Bluey and Bingo absolutely will not allow him quiet time. They invent games. The games escalate. There are small misunderstandings, small reconciliations, the particular Bluey blend of laugh-out-loud silliness and surprising emotional sincerity. If your child has seen the show, they will recognise this story; if you have seen the show, you may find yourself unexpectedly moved.
  • The runtime is correct. 50 minutes, no interval. That's exactly the right length for an audience of 3–9-year-olds. Many family productions overstay; this one ends right when your toddler's attention would have started fraying.
  • The post-show Stay-and-Play. After curtain call, audience members are invited to play "Keepy Uppy" with large air-filled balls and a bubble sequence — direct callbacks to one of the most famous TV episodes. This is optional (you can leave at the curtain call) and is responsible for a lot of the genuine joy in the room.
  • The New Wimbledon Theatre is a great venue for this. It's one of London's largest theatres outside the West End, with the kind of grand Edwardian auditorium that makes a family theatre trip feel like a proper occasion — and a fun fact: the venue hosted the world premiere of Lionel Bart's Oliver! in 1960. Easy step-free Tube and tramlink access from across London.

You'll love Bluey's Big Play if you...

  • Have a child between 3 and 9 who knows and loves Bluey
  • Want a family theatre trip that's the right length for younger kids
  • Appreciate puppetry done at proper theatrical craft level
  • Live in or near south London / south-west London and want a great venue without a Zone 1 hike
  • Are the parent who watches Bluey with the kids and secretly enjoys it more than they do

It might not be for you if you...

  • Don't have a child and don't watch Bluey — the show is good but it is specifically a Bluey show
  • Have a toddler under 2.5 who may not last 50 minutes in a dark theatre
  • Are bringing a tween 10+ who has aged out of Bluey — they may find it pitched young
  • Are particularly sensitive to flashing lights, strobe or haze effects
  • Are sensory-sensitive — the music is amplified and loud at moments

Best for

  • Families with children 3–9
  • Bluey TV fans
  • First theatre trips
  • Grandparents' outings
  • South London / Surrey audiences
  • School-holiday entertainment

Not the strongest fit for toddlers under 2.5, tweens 10+ who have aged out, or anyone unfamiliar with the Bluey TV series.

Critical Reception

Family-aimed productions are not reviewed by the major UK theatre critics in the same way West End plays and musicals are, so detailed star ratings are sparse. The production was nominated for the 2024 Olivier Award for Best Family Show — the most authoritative UK theatre industry recognition the show could receive. Its sell-out Royal Festival Hall engagement at Christmas 2024 and Christmas 2025, plus international tours across the US, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Europe, Singapore and South Africa, give a much clearer sense of audience reception than star ratings: this is one of the most successful family stage shows of the decade.

  • Olivier Awards 2024 Nominee, Best Family Show
  • The Times Highly recommended for under-10s
  • The Guardian "Joyful... a properly theatrical adaptation"
  • Time Out London Recommended family show 2025–26
  • Mumsnet community Consistently 4.5–5★ across user reviews
  • BBC Radio 4 Front Row Positive on the puppetry craft

Source: published reviews, awards body listings, and audience response across UK and Ireland tour engagements 2024–2026. As a family production with limited engagements per venue, broadsheet star ratings are limited; the Olivier nomination is the industry's clearest indicator of quality.

Everything You Need to Know

What happens in Bluey's Big Play?

The premise is pure Bluey: Dad — a 1.8-metre puppet of Bandit, voiced (via recording) by the TV series' Dave McCormack — has had a long week, and would very much like to spend a quiet afternoon on the bean bag. Bluey and Bingo, his two pups, have other ideas. The whole show is a sequence of escalating games, schemes and misadventures designed to coax Dad off the bean bag and into play.

The set-up

The curtain rises on the Heeler family living room. Dad is on the bean bag. Mum (Chilli, voiced by Melanie Zanetti) is somewhere about the house. Bluey is full of plans. Bingo, smaller and a little more easily distracted, is following her older sister wherever the plans lead. The audience is given a quick tour of the household and the family dynamic — which, like the TV show, balances genuine warmth with very recognisable family chaos.

The games begin

Bluey hatches her first plan: a game so good Dad will want to join in. It doesn't quite work. She hatches another. Bingo joins in. The plans get more inventive and more silly — at one point a costume change is involved, at another there's a mock medical examination, at another the audience is encouraged to participate. Every game lands a moment of laugh-out-loud absurdity and a moment of unexpected tenderness. This is the Bluey trick, brought directly to the stage.

The middle

Without giving too much away — half the joy of the show is the small surprises — there is a section where things go briefly, properly, wrong. Bingo gets upset. Bluey realises she has pushed her sister too far. The show stops being silly for a moment and becomes about how two siblings work things out. Parents in the audience tend to feel this section more than the children do.

The "Keepy Uppy" finale

The show's emotional resolution lands. The family is reconciled. The bean bag is forgotten. And then, in the show's most-loved sequence, the cast bring out a giant inflatable ball — "Keepy Uppy" from the TV series — and invite the audience to keep it in the air. Bubbles are released over the audience. The mood is pure family theatre joy.

The Stay-and-Play

After the curtain call, audience members who want to are invited to remain in the auditorium for a short post-show play session — more "Keepy Uppy", more bubbles, a chance for younger children to be in the room while the puppets take a victory lap. Audience members who would rather leave can do so. The Stay-and-Play is genuinely beloved and is a large part of why families travel for the show.

Why it works

Bluey's particular emotional intelligence — the way the TV show takes children's small worries seriously, gives parents permission to be imperfect, and finds the comedy in family life rather than the cliché — translates better than most TV-to-stage adaptations because the original creative team made it. The result is a 50-minute live show that is, against the licensed-IP odds, properly good theatre.