REVIEW – THE MAGIC BOOKMARK | HOME MANCHESTER - 2/08/2026
- Sarah Monaghan
- 51 minutes ago
- 6 min read
THE MAGIC BOOKMARK AT HOME MANCHESTER: A JOYFUL CELEBRATION OF BOOKS AND BEING YOURSELF
The Magic Bookmark was performed at HOME Manchester as part of Little HOME, a weekend of theatre and activities for children and families. The show is a colourful mix of storytelling, original songs, puppetry and traditional pantomime fun, all wrapped around a celebration of books, reading and being yourself.
The production is written by Mama G and Katie Pritchard, with music by Katie Pritchard. It is directed by Amée Smith, with choreography by Marc Kelly and puppet created by Magic Light Productions.
From the opening moments, The Magic Bookmark at HOME Manchester makes it clear that books are at the heart of the adventure. Before Mama G even appears on stage, an animated introduction features a series of colourful cartoon characters, including a dragon, while a song encourages the audience to look inside a book and discover the stories waiting to be explored.
It is a simple but effective introduction that immediately establishes the show's message: stories can take us on adventures, teach us about the world and help us discover who we can be.
Mama G is the librarian of the Panto Land Library, where she looks after all its wonderful stories. Unfortunately, all is not quite right in the library.
Enter Book Worm, a classic panto baddie who once loved books but has become rather unhappy about worms being so far towards the end of the alphabet. His solution is to take everybody's books away.
Cue plenty of traditional "Oh no you're not!" and "Oh yes I am!" exchanges with the audience.
Mama G believes books have the power to make the world a nicer place and that everyone deserves to see themselves represented in stories. Determined to prove Book Worm wrong, she sets out to find some special books with the help of the Magic Bookmark.
Their adventure takes them to three different locations, with the audience joining Mama G in the travel song each time they set off somewhere new.
The first stop is a castle, where Mama G discovers a book – but when she opens it, the pages are empty. The children have to use some magic of their own, shouting "Abracadabra!" to make the contents appear. Naturally, it doesn't quite work the first time, so everyone has to try again, only louder.
Mama G then travels to an island, where she discovers the book The Lipstick, written by Laura Dockrill and illustrated by Maria Karipidou, which she reads to the audience.
The final journey takes everyone to a fairground, where Mama G discovers Oh Yes I Am!, written by Mama G herself and illustrated by Totò. This story is also read to the audience as part of the adventure.
Rather than feeling like separate storytime sections, the books fit naturally into Mama G's wider adventure. Each one helps reinforce the show's message about celebrating who you are and recognising that people, families and lives can all look different.
There is plenty of silliness along the way, but the message is presented in a way that young children can understand without ever feeling as though the show is talking down to them.
The staging of The Magic Bookmark is relatively simple, allowing Mama G, the books and the audience interaction to remain at the centre of the production.
The Panto Land Library is represented by a colourful library unit, while props and projected animation help transport the story between its different locations. The animation works particularly well, helping to create a much bigger world without the need for large or complicated set changes.
One of the most memorable visual elements is the Magic Bookmark itself. Rather than simply being a prop, the bookmark is brought to life as a character, complete with large expressive eyes and a moving mouth. Its simple, colourful design fits perfectly with the children's-book world of the production.
Mama G's costume is another highlight. She initially appears in a wonderfully over-the-top purple and white gingham dress, with huge lilac sleeves, pink detailing, bold make-up, pearls and an enormous sculpted hairstyle. It immediately establishes her as the larger-than-life panto character at the centre of the show.
Later comes a particularly fun costume reveal. Mama G spins around and the gingham dress transforms, opening up to reveal a bright rainbow dress underneath. It is a quick and colourful piece of theatrical magic that fits perfectly with the fun and playful feel of the production.
The rainbow colours also work beautifully with the bright visual style of the show and make the costume transformation a memorable moment.
Audience participation is a huge part of The Magic Bookmark, and this is one of the areas where the production works particularly well as children's theatre.
There are all the traditional pantomime elements you would expect, including "Oh yes I am!" and "Oh no you're not!", shouting warnings to Mama G and helping her when things go wrong.
The repeated travel song is a particularly clever addition. Each time Mama G and the Magic Bookmark need to reach another destination, the audience is encouraged to sing along. The repetition means the children quickly learn the song and know when it is time to join in.
The original songs are catchy and help keep the production moving. Music is part of the show from the animated opening sequence, while another song mentions lots of different books, with their covers appearing on screen as Mama G sings about them. It is a simple but effective way of connecting the music with the show's celebration of reading.
The songs were also genuinely memorable. Several were still stuck in my head long after we had left the theatre, while both Alice and Leo enjoyed joining in with the music.
The participation isn't limited to children remaining in their seats either. At the performance we attended, several children were invited onto the stage to help Mama G, giving some of the young audience the chance to become part of the show themselves.
These interactive moments work particularly well because they feel like part of the story rather than something simply added between scenes. The children aren't just watching Mama G's adventure; they are helping her along the way.
At the centre of everything is Robert Pearce as Mama G, the larger-than-life pantomime dame who leads the audience through the adventure.
As a predominantly solo performance, The Magic Bookmark relies heavily on Mama G's ability to hold the attention of its young audience, and she certainly manages that.
From the moment Mama G enters the Panto Land Library, she is warm, funny and wonderfully larger than life. There is plenty of exaggerated panto comedy and silliness, balanced with a genuine warmth that makes it easy for the children to connect with her.
Mama G's comic timing is particularly strong, knowing when to draw out a joke or wait for another response from the children and when it is time to move the adventure forward. Both Alice and Leo found Mama G incredibly funny, and there was plenty of laughter coming from the young audience around us too.
She also moves comfortably between performing songs, telling stories, working with the Magic Bookmark puppet and speaking directly to the audience. Reading books on stage could easily have slowed the pace, but Mama G keeps the children involved, making the stories feel like a natural part of the wider adventure.
Mama G brings all these different elements together really well, while also reacting naturally to whatever the children in the audience say or do. Warm, energetic and genuinely funny, Mama G remains an engaging presence from beginning to end.
The Magic Bookmark proved to be a wonderful addition to Little HOME, combining the familiar fun of pantomime with children's storytelling, original music, animation and puppetry.
Beneath the colourful costumes, jokes and panto chaos is a genuine celebration of books and the importance of seeing different people and experiences represented in stories. The message comes through clearly without ever taking away from the fun, instead becoming a natural part of Mama G's colourful adventure.
The production clearly understands how to keep a young audience engaged, and we saw that first-hand with Leo. He initially decided that he didn't want to watch The Magic Bookmark at all, yet by the end he had completely changed his mind and chose it as his favourite show of the entire Little HOME weekend. For a children's production, it is difficult to think of a better recommendation than that.
Funny, colourful, inclusive and full of heart, The Magic Bookmark shows children that books can take them anywhere, while reminding them that there should always be space within those stories for them to be exactly who they are.
A colourful celebration of books, imagination and the magic of being yourself.
For more information about the production, including tour dates and show details, visit the official website below.
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