Morning! I'm just heading to school to listen to children in Years 4 and 1 read. I love taking time out to sit and listen to these children read and it is such a vital part of their learning. Often schools are so busy meeting targets that having volunteer parents pop in to listen to the children read is a huge help to the teaching staff. For several years The Gruffalo has been a firm favourite in our house and when I heard that The Gruffalo Live is set for a UK tour, starting next month, I was excited to find out that they would even be visiting Suffolk! However this is not until March, so I was pleased to see that Emily Quinton, a fabulous photographer, blogger and twitter friend was taking her children to watch the show in London. Emily has recently started writing a new blog and I was keen to hear what a mummy I know & trust really thought about the show before booking tickets. Emily has very kindly written a review to share with you all today.
Earlier this month I took two of my children (age 5 and almost 3) to see The Gruffalo at the Lyric Theatre in London. The production and adaptation was by Tall Stories and it was absolutely brilliant.
The production is about an hour long, which was just the right amount of time for little ones. My little boy (almost 3) was just beginning to get wriggly towards the end but he was completely captivated by it, as was my daughter who is just 5. Tall Stories have cleverly turned a 5 minute book into an hour long musical version of the Gruffalo. The songs are really fun and catchy. I've found myself and my children still singing the songs at home. We all loved it. In addition to the great songs there are also plenty of opportunities for the children to join in with the words they know from the book. The whole production really engages the children...and the grown-ups too!
The set was beautiful and gave a great sense of being in a forestwithout it being too dark and scary for the little ones. My daughter was fascinated by one actor playing three different characters; the
fox, the owl and the snake. She has role-played the Gruffalo over the past few days with her brother, and she always plays the fox, the owl and the snake. The characterization of the animals was super and so much fun. And the Gruffalo himself was simply fabulous. I was a little worried that the children might get frightened. But he was so funny and silly that they just thought he was great. "A bit scary!". And my little boy hasn't stopped telling people about the Gruffalo coming into the audience to sit with the boys and girls. They both thought that was brilliant fun.
I always have a little fear about going to watch adaptations of much loved books but there was absolutely no need to worry about this one. It is adorable, fun and engaging. And, I'm very glad I will be able to take my youngest to see it when he is older and I will definitely be looking out for more Tall Stories productions in the future.
fox, the owl and the snake. She has role-played the Gruffalo over the past few days with her brother, and she always plays the fox, the owl and the snake. The characterization of the animals was super and so much fun. And the Gruffalo himself was simply fabulous. I was a little worried that the children might get frightened. But he was so funny and silly that they just thought he was great. "A bit scary!". And my little boy hasn't stopped telling people about the Gruffalo coming into the audience to sit with the boys and girls. They both thought that was brilliant fun.
I always have a little fear about going to watch adaptations of much loved books but there was absolutely no need to worry about this one. It is adorable, fun and engaging. And, I'm very glad I will be able to take my youngest to see it when he is older and I will definitely be looking out for more Tall Stories productions in the future.
Cast : The Gruffalo - Owen Guerin Mouse - Josie Cerise The Predators - Tim Richey
Thank you Emily for sharing this review today, it sounds like a fantastic show and I know we will be going to see if there is such a thing as a Gruffalo when he visits Ipswich in March. To find out if The Gruffalo is coming to a theatre near you visit the website http://www.gruffalolive.com
Right off to school I go then maybe some scrambled snake for lunch!!
See you soon,
Zoe
x
2 comments:
Thank you so much for inviting me to post. I hope you enjoy the show in March! x
We took my fifteenth-month old son to see the same company's Room on the Broom. It was fantastic and he sat absolutely entranced throughout. They are touring the Gruffalo's Child next Christmas too! Tickets are already on sale.
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