Review: DENNIS & GNASHER: UNLEASHED AT THE ORCHESTRA, Southbank Centre

As part of the Southbank Centre family events, Dennis and Gnasher have been visiting Royal Festival Hall along with the BBC Concert Orchestra. This family concert celebrated the iconic Beano characters in the form of their latest media iteration - Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed, a current computer animated children’s television show. 

Upon the stage sitting alongside the impressive BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by George Jackson is a small LED lit bedroom in which Asha Sthanakiya is reading her Beano at bed time. As she tells of Dennis’s adventures, images from the comic appear on a screen behind the orchestra who take over the telling of the story in musical form as Asha quietly reads on her bed. Throughout the concert, she is joined by her mother, the fantastic Nina Wadia. 

Following the reading of her comic, Asha goes on to play a Dennis and Gnasher computer game which shows on the screen as the orchestra begin the sound effects. Whilst initially this is just percussion from Colin Currie, the full orchestra seamlessly join until the game images on the screen are no longer the narrative, instead the dramatic music is the complete focus. The moving music is completely captivating and includes recognisable pieces from Ravel and Prokofiev as well as Gavin Higgins’s "Beano Concerto for percussion & orchestra". Additionally, the full orchestra perform the opening theme song to Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed as scenes from the show feature on the big screen. Despite a few sound issues which made it hard to follow what Dennis was saying at times, this combination of medium worked very well.

This popular show inspired the costume choices of many of the audience members, many of whom enjoyed the other family activities on offer in the Southbank Centre alongside the concert. These Dennis and Gnasher inspired events included a session to make your own recycled percussion led by Artburst as well as Crash Bang Wallop DIY Orchestra. 

These additional activities will have been inspired by the performance where percussion was a highlight of the performance itself, with an absolutely incredible performance by Colin Currie, performed on a wonderfully inventive drum kit of painted upturned plastic buckets, paint cans and dust bin lid symbols. This is punctuated with input from others in the orchestra with bike horns, whistles and at one point a perfectly timed roar.

The show closed with a wonderful opportunity to encourage the younger audience members to dance, as Nina Wadia, still in her pyjamas, joins them to the music of Arturo Marquez’s "Conga del fuego nuevo". This family concert was a lively and entertaining event featuring stories, humour and incredible music.

Photo Credit: BBC/Mark Allan