THE GRUFFALO

By Tall Stories Productions

The Lyceum Theatre Sheffield

For many parents ‘The Gruffalo’ is a delightful picture book written by Julia Donaldson. Having read it to my daughter several times I was looking forward to seeing how ‘Tall Stories Productions’ were going to adapt, (what is quite a short tale) into a 50 minute production. For those who don’t know, ‘The Gruffalo’ is all about a small mouse who goes for an adventure into the forest, only to find herself set upon by a fox, an owl and a snake. Being a wise mouse she manages to stay alive by convincing them all that she is just about to be met by her friend “The Gruffalo”, the scariest beast ever to set foot in the forest, whose favourite foods just happen to be foxes, owls and snakes. Of course, the Gruffalo is all part of her imagination, but when a Gruffalo does actually appear and threatens to eat her instead, then she has to use all her ingenuity and wits just to stay alive.

As I took my seat in the auditorium, being one of the only men there, I did feel slightly out of place, surrounded by hundreds of tiny people and their mothers or teachers. Luckily, bringing my own wife and child seemed to pacify this brawling, mewling mass of youth and convince them that I wasn’t part of the stage show, so odd and out of place did I seem. The set was simple, but very effective with a black and deep blue backdrop in front of which stood several mdf and cardboard trees painted orange. As the announcer made a noise, that sounded like an announcement (but no-one was really sure as it was that muffled), lots of parents suddenly put there collective fingers to their lips and a hush descended on the theatre.

Abbey Norman, who played mouse bounded on stage, closely followed by Thomas Warwick and Mark Peachey, who narrated and assumed all the other characters. What followed, it has to be said was a quite enchanting, funny, energetic and generous performance by the three actors on stage, featuring song, dance and some very clever physical theatre.

The character of the mouse was delivered by Ms Norman with charm, energy and the right amount of innocence for the target audience, who enjoyed it immensely. My only quibble with her performance, being that on odd occasions I did struggle a little to hear her lines, even though all performers were miked up. Luckily, with most of the audience, being under seven years of age with perfect hearing, it’s certainly not something that would have bothered most of them.

Thomas Warwick, who portrayed the Predators of the piece (the fox, owl and snake) did an excellent job of making all the characters he played seem real and always different enough for a young audience not to be confused.  He sang well throughout, as did all the performers and gave a very funny, giving performance.

Mark Peachey, an actor who’s height could only help in playing a part like The Gruffalo connected to the audience exceptionally well and also narrated with a very clear sense of comic timing and also of what the piece required.

Overall these three actors combined in such a way as to make what they did seem easy – which means they were working exceptionally hard. The audience had all the clichéd moments they could have wished for (‘look behind you’), but they were woven so seamlessly into the piece as to be almost seen as not clichéd at all.
All the songs written specifically for this production seemed fresh and really modern (there was even a hint of ‘Madness’ in one of them) and complemented the piece exceptionally well. Even parts of songs that were repeated throughout the production never seemed tired but simply added to the charm of the piece.

All in all ‘The Gruffalo’ was an exceptional and enjoyable piece of theatre, not just for children (I had a blast) and as lovely a 50 minutes as you could ask for. My 2 and a half year old was transfixed. The only shadow that could be cast over this delightful production would be the price of the tickets, as at £9.50 per adult and £7.50 per child, it is perhaps a shadow that would put off many families in Yorkshire from experiencing what is quite a wonderful show and what would be a really valuable first piece of theatre for many children.       

Written by Paul Tyree

Playing 11^th and 12^th Nov at The Lyceum.

Here are the tour dates and location for the rest of the year.

15-19 November Civic Theatre, Darlington 01325 486555
24-26 November Grand Theatre, Blackpool 01253 290190
28-30 November Forum Theatre, Billingham 01642 552 663
1-3 December Theatre Royal, Windsor 01753 853888
7-11 December Opera House, Jersey 01534 511115
XMAS SEASON Hampstead Theatre, London 020 7722 9301