Was at The Unicorn Theatre, London
from Sun 22 Mar – Sun 12 Apr 2026

★★★★ ‘A wonderfully imaginative journey…fresh and relevant. A unique and inventive piece of theatre that taps directly into the imagination of its audience, Your Toys is both playful and deeply satisfying, and leaves you with a very real smile on your face.’
Everything Theatre

‘Sparks engagement and joy with its target [young] audiences, while the masterful use of puppetry, invention and creativity with the most basic of sets has much to teach and delight adult attendees too. A show that is gentle yet powerful, and demonstrates to observers, young and old, that magic can be made with merely a cardboard box and your own humble belongings – all you need is imagination and creativity.’
Inkpen

‘slightly scary, very funny, and full of invention. It’s delightful’
Lou Reviews

‘You could see the years of care and experience pouring into every beat. A total joy and masterclass in artist led work with children at the centre.’
Hope Ward-Brown, Associate Director, Old Vic Theatre

‘The respect that the company showed to its audience was a joy to watch. Set and costume design were sophisticated. Alongside this respect, the production was joyous, playful, and quirky with many moments that caused uncontrollable laughter from its young audience members. A fabulous experience,’
Sarah Argent, Theatre Director, Writer, Translator, Lecturer

‘I loved the show, it’s gorgeous, inventive and moving. A surprising and joyous combination of technical skill, great storytelling and bags of heart.’
Lee Lyford, Theatre Director, Artistic Director of Theatre Iolo, the Welsh Young People’s Theatre

‘[The] easy simplicity disguises an excellence of craft and artfulness in the dialogue, live music and ensemble playing. The pitch and tone rings true and funny.’
Michael Judge, Associate Artistic Director New International Encounters

What do Buzz Lightyear, Barbie and that stray Lego piece from behind the fridge have in common? They’re all setting off on a wild journey together as Slot Machine Theatre bring their extraordinary puppetry skills to a show like no other – where every character is one of your very own toys!

Packed with music, belly laughs and plenty of surprises, Your Toys is a heart-warming story about new friends pulling together – an anthem to the power of play that will send you home grinning from ear to ear.

Created in workshops with children, the show brims with their brilliant, inventive – and wonderfully bonkers – ideas; making it a truly joyous, unique piece of theatre.

And the best part? Children (and their grown-ups!) are invited to bring along a toy, lend it to us for the performance, and watch it come to life on stage! (You’ll get it back at the end – don’t worry!)

Your Toys is presented by Slot Machine Theatre. Originally produced by Turtle Key Arts.

We were delighted that our original piece of theatre for children aged 5-9 and their families was chosen as the Easter offering for the wonderful Unicorn Theatre, the dedicated home of quality children’s theatre in London.

For three weeks we invited young people and adults young people and adults to bring a toy – or favourite keepsake – to the Unicorn and see it take part in a live theatre show of adventure, friendship, and daring exploits!

At SMT we develop all our work for families with young people’s input.

For Your Toys we workshopped ideas with groups of children in a play setting. The children came up with many of the ideas for the story and some of the things the characters do. They also created many of the images which we use as the projected backdrop to the show.
SMT have always built accessibility into our shows. Making language simple, introducing relaxed performances, post-show touch tours for young people with special education needs, working with accessibility co-ordinators, and workshopping in schools for young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

It’s a show that has been delighting children and their adults for ten years – and that we genuinely love performing.

Thanks for coming! We’ll be back!

Visual story

This visual resource is for children and young adults visiting the Unicorn Theatre to see a performance of Your Toys. This visual story is intended to help prepare you for a new experience and help you to become familiar with the surroundings and the performance.
Download the visual story (PDF, 943KB)

Family reflection

This family reflection document includes some useful conversation starters and a colouring sheet.
Download the family reflection (PDF, 217KB)