From the UK to the US, Dinosaur World Live has been wowing audiences since 2018. I had the amazing opportunity to speak to actress Lizzie Burder to find out more!
The phenomenal production Dinosaur World Live was created by the award-winning Derek Bond and premiered in 2018 across the UK. Dinosaur World Live offers a pre-historic immersive experience for children, featuring a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex. The New Theatre Cardiff hosted this production in August last year and rumour has it that this production will tour the UK again soon! This Jurassic adventure won the Olivier Award ‘Best Family Show 2024’ and is currently touring across America.
Lizzie Burder, who plays the character Miranda in the show, kindly allowed me to interview her from the road in Florence, Alabama, in between productions. The production has been touring for five weeks so far, with another month touring before their residency at Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis. The production has been all over, from the UK to USA, as well as Canada and China. Lizzie explained how she has been part of Dinosaur World Live for just over two years, preforming in two UK tours before her first international tour currently.
Lizzie talked through her character, Miranda: “Whilst it’s not a hugely plot heavy show, I do have a backstory. My backstory is that my parents are palaeontologists and they went to an island that they heard had sightings of creatures. I grew up on this island and I want to bring the dinosaurs to show everyone. The plot revolves around Miranda bringing out a dinosaur and something goes wrong. I then enlist help from the audience, and the children help solve the problem!”
Lizzie explained that the show is similar to a live animal display, only using puppets instead of animals. The show also relies on improvisation as Lizzie explains how she likes to connect with the children on stage – “I want to make them feel confident and comfortable on stage, so when a kid comes up on stage, I try to create a rapport with them.” Lizzie recalled that at one show, a boy came up on stage who was very confident, and when a dinosaur approached him, he called out: ‘she’s going to crucify me!’. She noted that the boy said it “with thrill and joy, you could tell he was so excited to be interacting with dinosaurs.”
Dinosaur World Live performs with five puppeteers, four on stage at a time and one backstage. They rotate around to help with muscle fatigue and keep the show running smoothly. These brilliant puppets are designed by Max Humphries, aligning with Derek’s inspiration. Lizzie gave me the inside scoop behind the inspiration for the dinosaur names: “One of the dinosaurs is a baby triceratops called Baby Beatrice and that’s Derek’s daughter’s name. The show was written around the time she was born, and they were struggling with getting her to sleep, which turned out to be inspiration for one of the sleep scenes. We have another dinosaur baby, the baby giraffatitan, who is called Oscar. This is our puppet director, Laura Cubitt’s, baby’s name.” Lizzie continued to explain how the other dinosaurs share their names with Shakespeare characters, reflect Derek Bond’s theatre background. Their names are Juliet, Orlando, Beatrice, Brutus, Tamora, Titus and Gertrude. “We really hope that some of the parents notice that because there are a few references for the adults too… if they’re not too distracted by their child roaring!”
As the interview continued, Lizzie gave an insight into her background and how she became part of Dinosaur World Live. “My big inspiration stemmed from growing up going to the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon – a really amazing children’s theatre. When I was about 16, I saw a production there and I saw the lead character buying a sandwich in the café afterwards. In my mind I was thinking he’s a real person! That’s crazy! From there I went and changed my A-Level options and chose drama. Then I went on to do musical theatre. My first job out of drama school was playing a spoon in a children’s show – from there I’ve never looked back!”
Whilst Lizzie was writing her dissertation based on factors that affect her performance, she was touring with Peppa Pig and realised that the only thing that really impacted her performance was whether she thought the audience liked her and whether they were enjoying the show. “When I do things that are not aimed at children, it throws me off as I’m used to having children talk and reply to me as I perform. I love the direct feedback that they’re enjoying it. Sometimes it’s direct invalidation as well, but then that makes you laugh!”
Getting a slice of the showbiz world, I realised truly how Lizzie’s job as a performer is like no other. She talked me through a day in the life on production day, which starts very early. “I started working at 6.30am, putting the set together and helping the puppeteers put the puppets together. I mainly sort out costumes and props, before having a break before the show at mid-day. Before the show, we do a warm-up, check spacing and make sure we’re all comfortable in the new theatre. We do a mic check, get into our costumes and then we perform the show. Afterwards we get a long break to rest or explore where we are, and then we have another show in the evening. After that show finishes, we’ll take everything down, pack it all away again and get onto the bus and head to bed.”
Whilst being on the road is tough as she misses people at home, Lizzie revealed her excitement being on tour: ‘It’s crazy that I’ll wake up and be in another state. Yesterday we were in Tennessee, the day before we were in Kentucky, before that we were in Florida and Georgia. I love touring but it’s really nice to have residency whilst we’re in Minneapolis at Minneapolis Children’s Theatre, as you get to know the theatre a bit more.’
It was a pleasure to speak to Lizzie Burder and I look forward to welcome Dinosaur World Live back to Cardiff upon their return!
For the full touring schedule for Dinosaur World Live, please visit dinosaurworldlive.com
Words by Helen Turnbull
