Theatre Review: Silly Billy

Billy spends a bit too much time worrying. He worries about hats... He worries about shoes... He worries so much that he can't sleep. Concerned about all this worrying WL went to find out how Grandma can help.



In partnership with York Theatre Royal, tutti frutti productions from Leeds presented their brand new adaptation of Silly Billy by the award winning writer, Anthony Browne.

Elliot Quinn brought Billy from Browne's page to the stage. Through mostly facial expressions and some exaggerated physical actions, his faithful portrayal of the little boy worrier was designed to engage children aged 3-7 and their families with Billy’s trouble-solving process and the magical world of story-telling via theatre.

Directed by Wendy Harris, Silly Billy brought alive the well received children's story. The sounds were colourful with a taste of exotic Guatemala.

The production team, including Alison Heffeman as the designer and Ivan Stott as the composer of original score, lit up their stage with distinctive cultural diversity. Together they spiced up the original story of Billy the silly worrier, and made the performance a fascinating experience.

The slow-moving pace of Silly Billy was perhaps devised to provide enough space for children in the audience to comfortably exercise their imagination. All got speeded up when it came to fast changes of the sets. Children's giggles could be heard when this was done. [Read the full review]