one4review | On 10, Aug 2019

Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs tells the story of three school children who, while rehearsing for their school play, are magically whisked away to a world where dinosaur pirates are mean, hungry and very real. Our trio – Flinn, Pearl and Tom, must retrieve the magic cutlass and find a way back to their school.

The same four actors play the kids, their teacher and the dinosaurs wonderfully. The catchy musical numbers are well performed and add to the story. The puppets, however, are the stars of the show. These include a dopey diplodocus, a tyrannical tyrannosaurus and delicate jellyfish.

There are plenty of corny pirate jokes, but at times these seem to impact on the flow of the show. There are some moments where the plot seems to jump around and gets a bit lost. Although the actors were all fantastic, having four actors play eight characters in a sixty-minute show felt a little chaotic. Our favourite scene, set in an underwater disco, was visually stunning but added little to the plot.

feel that older children may feel a little frustrated with the overall plot, but younger children who are dinosaur and pirate obsessives will love it.

Reviewed by Claire

Pleasance Courtyard. Aug 10-12, 14-19