An outdoor theatre show for all the family, set in and around a Victorian iguanodon

“Delightfully weird…” (Time Out)

IGGY 2026 Dates –

July 18th and 19th – Crystal Palace Park, London, shows at 1pm and 3pm

July 25th – Fisherman’s Green, West Bay, Dorset

The show lasts for 35 minutes, is almost always free to watch, and outdoors.

Audience comments:

“You need to see the Iguanodon Restaurant, it’s awesome!”

“Fantastic paleo-history storytelling from the Iguanodon Restaurant.”

“That is just too cool!”

“Mary Anning was in the iguanodon play excitingly. It was sooooooooooo funny. It had fossils in it. I went up on the stage carefully.”

“I was so impressed by what I saw that I saw it twice and both times enjoyed it immensely. The theme and presentation was some of the best I have seen to date. To get facts over to the public using such a great storyline was a credit to not only the actors but to whoever created the idea and set it up in the first place. Well done, we need more of this as a great educational aid.”

(Steve Etches, Etches Collection, Kimmeridge)

Watch the Iggy trailer here:

Iggy Show Trailer with BSL –

About the Show

‘The Iguanodon Restaurant’ is a theatre performance for schools and families set in a life-size Victorian iguanodon. ‘Iggy’ still exists, in Crystal Palace, and this is the true story of how the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs came to be built, in 1853. Since 2016 we have performed to 20,380 people at festivals, schools, in car parks and shopping centres. Our biggest audience numbered 1191 keen picnickers on a sunny day in Hastings. We perform to whole schools, big communities, and work with museums to celebrate their geology collections and draw attention to local fossils.

The show lasts for 40 minutes and tells the story of the birth of geology in a fast and furious romp through 60 years of scientific discovery. As the story unfolds eccentric characters emerge from history: Mary Anning, Rev William Buckland, Sir Richard Owen, Baron George Cuvier, the Godfather of Geology, William Smith, and last but not least, Sir Charles Darwin. They compete for fame, claiming the biggest, best fossils for themselves, and they grapple with questions that shook society: How come these creatures no longer exist? What does this tell us about our world? Where’s my hat?

An Introduction for Children by the Cast

More Iggy Photos…

Photo by Finbarr Webster

IGGY FOR ALL TOUR DATES – SUMMER 2025

The Iggy show will delight all ages, it is free, and lasts 35 minutes, (more info below). Running before, between and after shows there will be Dino workshops run by Emerald Ant artists with local museums, expect fossils and dino- art activities. All venues are outdoors and wheelchair accessible. Bring a picnic and some seating!

The tour is part of the ‘Iggy for All’ project. Thank you to the Arts Council, Dorset Council, the Valentine Trust, and our museum partners for supporting these events.

June 15th – Lyme Regis Fossil Festival – 12.30 & 3pm, Marine Parade https://fossilfestival.com/lyme-regis-fossil-festival-programme/ p29. BSL and wheelchair access. Download the access pack https://emeraldant.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Lyme-Fossil-Festival-Access-Pack.pdf
June 21st – 12.30 and 2.30pm, The Gauge Railway Museum, Bishops Lydeard – BSL and wheelchair access, download the access pack: https://emeraldant.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Gauge-Museum-IGGY-FOR-ALL-.pdf
June 29th – 12.30 & 2.30pm, Nothe Fort, Weymouth – BSL and wheelchair access. Download the access pack: https://emeraldant.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Nothe-Fort-IGGY-FOR-ALL.pdf
July 12th – 12.30 & 2.30pm, Sturminster Newton Recreation Ground – BSL and wheelchair access. Download the access pack at https://emeraldant.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Stur-Newt-IGGY-FOR-ALL-1.pdf
July 19th – 12.30 & 3pm. Blake Gardens, Bridgewater https://www.fuse.org.uk/productions/picnicinthepark/ wheelchair access. Apologies, we are unable to get a BSL interpreter for this day.
July 26th – 12.30 & 2.30pm, Ham Hill, Stoke sub Hamden, BSL and wheelchair access, download the access pack at https://emeraldant.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Ham-Hill-IGGY-FOR-ALL-1.pdf
August 28th- 12.30 & 2.30pm, Ellenborough Park West, Weston Super Mare, wheelchair access and BSL, download the access pack at https://emeraldant.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Weston-S-Mare-IGGY-FOR-ALL.pdf Apologies, this event is cancelled due to bad weather
August 29th – 12.30 & 2.30pm, Shoemakers Museum, Street – BSL and wheelchair access , download the access pack at Shoemakers IGGY FOR ALL
August 31st – 12.30 & 3pm, Watchet Esplanade, BSL and wheelchair access. Find the access pack at Watchet IGGY FOR ALL
Sept 6th – 12.30 & 2.30pm. Blandford Museum Gardens (next to the museum), wheelchair access. Apologies, we are unable to get a BSL interpreter for this day. Find the access pack at Blandford Museum IGGY FOR ALL
Sept 14th – NEW VENUE, NEW SHOW TIMES – SAILING ACADEMY, PORTLAND DT5 1SA- ENTER VIA RECEPTION part of B-side Festival Fringe, 12.45 & 2.45pm. Good wheelchair access. Apologies, we are unable to get a BSL interpreter for this day.
Sept 27th – 2 pm. Fisherman’s Green, West Bay, Bridport DT6 4HA. Fossil poetry workshop 11 to 4pm, with support from Bridport Museum. Good wheelchair access, Apologies, there will not be a BSL interpreter on this day.

The Artistic Team:

Sarah Butterworth – Artistic Director, lead visual artist, performer
Richie Smith – Writer and Director of Performance
Vic Llewellyn – Performer (Bill, Anning, Cuvier, Smith, Owen, Darwin)
Jacob Aldcroft – Performer (Hawkins, Buckland, Mantell)
Ben Piper – Logistics
Mike Pattison – Theatrical Engineer
Jay Kerry – Maker, technician
Georgie Rose Shire, Holly Miller- Makers
Shirley Pegna – Music

Note that photos above are from Iggy’s previous shows, staring Ed Jobling, Mike Bennet and Sarah Butterworth.

Many thanks to students at Arts University Bournemouth – Sarah Woollet, Mo Clouting, Heidi-Jo Heard, Eleanor Pollock, Lyddia Green, Amy Healy and Rimante Alisauskaite who toiled endlessly in a cold barn to build Iggy.

Emerald Ant works with scientists at the Jurassic Coast Team and our partners the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs to ensure our work is scientifically correct.