No doubt all parents have read the Gruffalo books to their children. Again. And again. We know the story well and kids know it off by heart. Maybe it’s because that tiny mouse manages to outwit and scare that great big Gruffalo.
So today Richmond Theatre was taken over by hoards of rather small people and their parents and grandparents. The downstairs bar was converted into a buggy park and the ushers had their faces painted. Some of the kids had a Gruffalo on a stick and others clutched fluffy Gruffalos. They were all rather excited.
Before the show started, the mouse character with a soft Scottish accent came out on stage and walked amongst the audience. She even came up to us in the dress circle - asking if anyone had something to eat. The mouse was searching for cheese sandwiches but we hid our gummy bears just in case. We listened to the calming music which was punctuated by occasional owl hoots. The stage contained some bare trees and a cave.
Then off we went in the deep, dark woods – the kids roaring with laughter at the snoring Gruffalo, clapping their hands when encouraged to do so and jiggling along to the jaunty songs. Luckily, the Gruffalo wasn’t too scary – there were no tears. And everyone laughed when the child wouldn’t go to sleep and he shouted.
Then the Gruffalo’s child sneaked out with the stick man and into adventure. The costumes and characters of the animals on the journey were brilliant. I loved the Spanish partying snake in his sparkly dinner jacket, the owl in his comfy cardigan made us all join in with a flying lesson and the fox – in an overcoat and trilby - was suitably shifty.
There was a bit of confusion though. Some of the youngsters around me were a little confused as to when the mouse was actually with the characters and when she was narrating. Some called “Looked behind you!” just in case. Sweet.
The whole thing is over in an hour so there’s little chance your small people will have time to get bored or fidgety, and if they do then no-one seemed to mind the odd child running up and down the aisle or whinging a bit.
There can be no happier sound than children giggling and laughing and there was plenty of this at today’s afternoon performance. The show is on at Richmond – twice a day (1030am and 130pm) – until Sunday 7th July. Tickets are £12. All adults must be accompanied by a responsible child.
There’s also a Gruffalo Adventure Workshop on Saturday 6th July from 12-1pm for 3-5 year olds. Tickets are £5 and to book email [email protected]
http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/gruffalos-child/richmond-theatre/ Richmond Box office 0844 871 7651
http://www.gruffaloschildlive.com/
