An Olivier Award-nominated theatre company is set to open Greenwich’s annual Children’s Theatre Festival at Greenwich Theatre on Friday, March 25.

Les Enfants Terribles were nominated for the top theatre prize alongside the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch and Nicole Kidman for their show Alice Underground.

Their ‘weird and wonderful’ The Marvellous Imaginary Menagerie kicks of the Greenwich festival, now in its ninth year, which runs for two weeks during the school Easter holidays and returns during the May half term.

This first Easter section comprises two weeks of family-friendly shows at Greenwich Theatre, including Comedy Club 4 Kids, an adaptation of Emma Yarlett’s Orion and the Dark, At The End of Everything Else which features actors of bicycles and Leaper: A Fish Tale which follow’s one fish’s magical quest against natural and man-made monsters.

Greenwich Theatre’s executive and artistic director James Haddrell said: “Having Les Enfants Terrible opening the programme is perfect.

“They are so visually creative and capture the audience immediately. They invariably include some sort of puppetry, their costumes are always larger than life and even when they’re telling a children’s story there’s always a dark tinge to it.

“They really are the ideal company to launch our family festival programme. Their aesthetic is so strong that you know when you are seeing a Les Enfants show, and we’re now seeing the emergence of a whole range of new companies influenced by their work.”

He added: “Every school holiday you can look to Greenwich Theatre for these types of shows and other activities”

“We’re very aware that theatre is under threat across the country with funding cuts and that people have to make more careful choices about spending their money.

“As clichéd as it sounds, the future of theatre lies with children and our job is to get them coming to theatre at the age of four, then seven, 10 and 17.

“You can lose generations of children if you don’t attract them, and that’s why we work so hard to make this festival more ambitious year on year.”

Go to greenwichtheatre.org.uk for the full festival programme

Like our What's On page on Facebook for entertainment news, interviews, reviews and features from across south London.