My Favourite film - In the west end.

Ever since I was a little girl, 'The Lion King' has been my all time favourite film. When I was younger I would go through phases of watching the film everyday. A couple of years ago I received tickets to go and watch 'The Lion King' up in the west end and obviously, I jumped at the chance, and I can tell you, it was a one in a life time opportunity!!

All the favourite characters from the film are there. The animal-aspect is represented through the movement of the performers and use of masks. This means the people behind the animals can interact, giving greater humanity to the relationships. I found this particularly effective in the romantic relationship of Simba and Nala. Pumba and Timmon remain a wonderful comedy double-act. Other characters are represented through a variety of performance, circus and puppet-based techniques.

As you would expect from a West End show, the manipulation of the stage is as important to the telling of the story as the characters themselves. You have great view, where the performers themselves add the detail. How simple it is to make an actor's headwear look like blades of grass, and how effective it looks too.

Superbly designed, the costumes create a great blend of humanity and animalism. This means they are versatile enough to cope with choreography which seems to blend aggression and passion, giving it a distinctly African flavour.

The songs by Elton John and Tim Rice are perhaps the most famous and successful aspect of the original film. Again, the theatre production doesn't simply fall back on these, filling the remainder of the show with light-weight fluff. You'll all be singing along to 'I just can't wait to be king'!

If you have the chance to see your favourite film up in the west end, I say go for it! You won’t regret it. Take it from someone with experience.