The first notices are in for Anansi the Spider, the Unicorn Theatre family show now running on the picnic lawn at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. Three narrators — Cynthia Emeagi, Elizabeth Peace and Becky Sanneh — take turns as the West African trickster across three short tales, in a fifty-minute show pitched at ages four and up. Writer Justin Audibert and director Robin Belfield have moved it outdoors, and the critics have noticed the same things: the energy of the three-hander, the live percussion, and a jingle the children carry back out of the park with them. Where the reviews part company is structure, and whether three separate stories add up to more than three stories.
The verdict: four notices so far — three four-star and one three-star, an average of 3.75 across the four. All of them praise the three narrators and the live West African percussion, and three of the four single out the show's jingle. The one reservation, from London Theatre, is structural: three short tales make a slighter show than one story with momentum.
What are critics saying about ANANSI THE SPIDER?
Theatre and Tonic
Reviewer: Cathie
"Traditional West African musical instruments are used to support and dramatise the story. After each story is told by the narrator, we see the story quite literally shift over silk representing water to create a new version in the new land. In this, we see the story travel from West Africa to the Caribbean to finally London. This is an excellent and layered detail which reflects on the evolution of the stories and characters over time in history and its enduring relevance to modern times. Duramaney Kamara also created a fantastic jingle which all the children and many adults were singing as they left the theatre."
Adventures in Theatreland
Reviewer: Bethan Warriner
"The storytelling is one of the strongest aspects of the production. Three performers take on the role of narrators, but they are far from static storytellers. There is a real sense of energy between them, with the performers rotating roles and constantly shifting between characters and parts of the story. This keeps the stage feeling busy without becoming overwhelming, and there's a lovely sense of playfulness in the way the performers interact with one another."
Read Bethan Warriner’s full review at Adventures in Theatreland
London Theatre
"this outdoor family show is a charming experience"
Reviewer: Julia Rank
"The format of three short stories, threaded together with a catchy jingle by Duramaney Karama, is rather harder to get a grip on than an overarching narrative with momentum. Nevertheless, the young audience seemed engaged – and hopefully entertained without looking to Anansi as a role model."
Production photographs by Tyler Fayose.
Also reviewed by: The Stage, where Oliver Jones gave it four stars and called it "lively adventures from West African and Caribbean folklore for ages four and up". That review sits behind a paywall, so it is counted in the verdict above but not quoted here.
For more of what the critics made of this summer, we have also gathered the notices for A Slow Fire at Jermyn Street Theatre and As You Like It at Shakespeare's Globe, with more in our London theatre reviews.
Anansi the Spider opened on Saturday 15 August 2026 and runs at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre until Sunday 6 September 2026.
