AN INFLATABLE "showdome" and a big top will be wooing young theatre-goers on Tyneside this month.

The former is already in action at the Metrocentre, Gateshead, showcasing a stage adaptation of In The Night Garden Live, the popular CBeebies show for tots.

There are five daily performances until May 21 (but not May 13) in the showdome, a 13-metre high inflatable theatre which seats 550 people and plays host to full-size versions of Igglepiggle, Upsy Daisy and Makka Pakka, along with a cast of puppets.

With panoramic projections and music, the idea is to create an immersive theatrical experience so audiences can feel they are actually entering the magical world of In The Night Garden.

The 67-metre long dome also has a foyer big enough for a buggy park, a baby-changing area and microwaves to heat up baby food. In the Night Garden is in the Yellow Car Park, next to the Metrocentre’s Yellow Mall, with hour-long performances and a choice of two stories.

For tickets, visit www.nightgardenlive.com  or call 0844 581 1251.

Next week the Theatre Royal’s panto heroes, Danny Adams and Clive Webb, bring their big top show to the Town Moor in Newcastle for the first time.

The pair have become firm favourites at the Theatre Royal since 2005, appearing in the panto and also bringing their own Circus Hilarious shows to the venue on a regular basis. But with the Theatre Royal still being refurbished, Circus Hilarious is to be performed in the father-and-son team’s Laughter Dome.

It goes without saying the Clive and Danny will steal the show but also on the bill will be the Circus Hilarious dancers, balancing specialist Sasha Williams, chair juggler TJ Roberts and a rock band called Clownforce.

Danny Adams says: “Both my dad and I are originally circus performers so this is where we feel most at home – after the Theatre Royal, of course.”

Circus Hilarious: The Laughter Dome is on the Town Moor from May 17-22. Tickets from the box office on 05603 456366 or online at www.circushilarious.co.uk