REVIEW - TALES FROM THE LIGHTHOUSE AT HOME MANCHESTER: A MAGICAL FAMILY SHOW
Tales From The Lighthouse at HOME Manchester ✨
On Saturday 1st August, my brother, Alice, Leo and I headed into Manchester for the Little HOME Family Festival at HOME Manchester, where we had tickets for the 10.30am performance of Tales From The Lighthouse.
We got the bus at around 9.35am and it was such an easy journey because the bus stopped almost directly opposite HOME. As an added bonus, bus travel for children was free throughout August, so we only needed to pay for the adults.
We arrived at HOME at around 9.55am, giving us plenty of time before the performance started.
Pre-Show Fun at Little HOME 🎨🚀
As soon as we arrived, Alice and Leo headed straight to Creativity Corner.
Alice settled down to do some drawing while Leo got involved with making a rocket ship out of cardboard boxes, which he absolutely loved.
It was such a nice way for the children to start the morning and gave them something creative to do before we headed into the theatre.
Creativity Corner isn't just part of the Little HOME Family Festival either. It's a permanent family-friendly space at HOME where children can enjoy books, dressing up, puppets, toys and colouring activities when visiting the venue.
During Little HOME there were additional activities taking place too, including the cardboard rocket-making activity Leo joined in with.
I always think little extras like this make family theatre visits feel more relaxed, especially when there is time to fill before a performance starts.
Our Seats & View 🎭
When it was time for the performance, we headed into Theatre 2, one of the smaller theatre spaces at HOME, for Tales From The Lighthouse.
The seating was unreserved, so you could sit wherever you wanted. A lot of the seats at the front had already been taken by the time we went in, so we decided to sit towards the back where the rake was also slightly better.
We ended up on the second row from the back and actually had a really good view.
Theatre 2 is a small and intimate space, so even sitting towards the back we never felt far away from the stage and the children could see everything clearly.
The Show 🌊
Tales From The Lighthouse is a family theatre production combining storytelling, live folk music, original songs and puppetry, all inspired by myths and stories connected to the sea.
The story follows a Lighthouse Keeper who once loved the ocean and everything surrounding it. After tragedy strikes during a storm, his feelings towards the sea completely change and he becomes frightened of something that once brought him so much happiness.
As the years pass, he becomes increasingly withdrawn until a mysterious Stranger arrives with his concertina.
Through music and stories, the Stranger begins helping the older Lighthouse Keeper reconnect with his past and slowly rediscover the magic of the sea.
There is actually quite a thoughtful story underneath all the music and puppetry, exploring things like fear, loss and becoming isolated from the things you once enjoyed. These are quite big subjects for a children's show, but they are handled gently and balanced with humour, music, audience interaction and plenty of magical creatures.
The puppetry was definitely the highlight for us.
One of the most impressive puppets was the older Lighthouse Keeper. He was almost life-sized and incredibly detailed, with glasses, a moustache and his own yellow waterproofs. I really liked the way the puppet immediately showed that many years had passed.
The Selkie was another lovely moment. It begins as a seal before transforming into a woman right in front of the audience, which really fascinated the children.
But our favourite was definitely the Water Horse.
Rather than staying on the stage, the Water Horse came right out into the audience, allowing the children to reach out and touch it as it passed.
It created so much excitement because suddenly this huge mythical creature from the story was right beside them rather than something they were simply watching from their seats.
The live music was another big part of the show.
Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne performs the music on an Anglo concertina, and I really enjoyed the folk sound throughout. It fitted the lighthouse, sea and folklore themes really well and gave the show a very distinctive atmosphere.
There were a few quieter sections where the show became more focused on the music, and I did notice some of the younger children starting to lose concentration a little, although they were soon drawn back in when the puppets and more interactive moments returned.
Towards the end, everyone was encouraged to join in with a singalong, which was lots of fun and a lovely way to finish the story.
Meeting the Water Horse Afterwards 🐴✨
One of the nicest parts of the experience was that it didn't quite finish when the performance ended.
The children were invited to come down and meet the Water Horse puppet properly, which Alice absolutely loved because she loves puppets.
After watching it move around the theatre during the show, it was lovely that they could get a closer look at it afterwards and see just how detailed it was.
The children were also able to take a closer look at the concertina and even have a little go themselves while the musician held it.
I really liked this part of the experience because they had just spent the whole show listening to such an unusual instrument and then got the chance to see how it worked up close.
It was a really lovely way to round off the performance.
Final Thoughts ✨
We really enjoyed Tales From The Lighthouse at HOME Manchester.
It is quite a gentle show, but there is plenty packed into its 55-minute running time, from storytelling and live folk music to audience participation and some fantastic puppetry.
There were a few moments during the more music-focused sections where I felt the pace slowed a little for the younger audience, but the production always had something visual or interactive to draw them back in.
For us, the puppetry was what made the show particularly memorable.
The Selkie transformation was really clever, but the Water Horse coming right into the audience was easily our favourite moment.
Getting to meet the Water Horse afterwards and having the chance to look at and try the concertina was also a lovely extra and made the experience feel even more interactive for the children.
If your children enjoy puppets, music, magical creatures and stories about the sea, Tales From The Lighthouse offers something a little different from a traditional children's theatre show.
A magical family theatre trip filled with live music, mythical creatures and some fantastic puppetry.
More Information About Tales From The Lighthouse 🌊
Tales From The Lighthouse was performed at HOME Manchester as part of the Little HOME Family Festival.
The show runs for approximately 55 minutes with no interval and is aimed at audiences aged 5 to 105.
Our performance at Little HOME was free, although tickets needed to be booked in advance, with a small number also available on the day. This was specific to the Little HOME Family Festival, and performances at other venues may have a ticket charge.
Tales From The Lighthouse is a touring production. You can visit the official Tales From The Lighthouse website to find tour dates, venues and further information about the show.
If you'd like to read my more detailed theatre-focused review of the production, you can also head over to our sister site, All About Theatre.
🎥 Watch Our Visit in Weekly Vlog
If you'd like to see what we got up to during our trip to Little HOME and our visit to see Tales From The Lighthouse, you can watch it in this week's family weekly update vlog.
Our Little HOME Family Festival visit begins at 13:12 in the video, although the vlog also includes lots of other family moments from our week.
🎭 At A Glance
📍 Venue: HOME Manchester
🎭 Theatre: Theatre 2 – one of HOME's smaller, more intimate theatre spaces
📅 Performance Attended: Saturday 1st August 2026 at 10.30am
⏱️ Runtime: Approx. 55 minutes
☕ Interval: No interval
👤 Age Guidance: Ages 5+
🎟️ Tickets: Our Little HOME Family Festival performance was free with advance booking, with a small number of tickets also available on the day. This was specific to the festival, and performances at other venues may have a ticket charge.
💺 Seating: Unreserved for our performance
🎶 Features: Live folk music, original songs, storytelling, audience interaction and puppetry
🐴 Post-Show Experience: Children were invited to meet the Water Horse puppet and could see and have a little go on the concertina
🎨 Creativity Corner: HOME has a permanent family-friendly Creativity Corner with books, dressing-up clothes, puppets, toys and colouring activities for children to enjoy when visiting the venue. During our visit, there were also additional Little HOME festival activities, including the cardboard rocket-making activity Leo joined in with.
🚋 Travel: HOME is easily accessible by tram, bus and train
🚊 Closest Tram Stop: Deansgate-Castlefield
🚆 Closest Train Station: Deansgate
🚌 By Bus: Several bus services stop close to HOME; the bus we used stopped almost directly opposite the venue
📍 Address: HOME Manchester, 2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester, M15 4FN
👨👩👧👦 Family Events at HOME: Visit HOME Manchester's family page to find out more about visiting HOME with children and see what family-friendly shows, activities and events are coming up at the venue.
🌍 Tales From The Lighthouse Tour Dates: Visit the official Tales From The Lighthouse website for tour dates, venues and further show information.
Comments