The Gruffalo’s Child, which opened this week at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue is a sweet reworking of Julia Donaldson’s charming story. We follow the Gruffalo’s brave daughter who, in spite of her father’s warnings, ventures into the deep dark woods to see just how scary the ‘Big Bad Mouse’ really is. Of course the mouse is neither big nor bad, but being a clever little mouse, tricks the Gruffalo’s child into believing that he is indeed dangerous and proving that in a sticky situation, it’s much better to use reason over violence. As the young Gruffalo runs back to her parent for a big hug, youngsters are reassured that the safest place to be is home in the loving arms of their parents, whose adivce they ought have trusted in the first place.
Three actors with catchy tunes, physical theatre and polished choreography, tell this musical tale of brains over brawn. Catriona Mackenzie doubles as the storyteller and the Mouse, while Sophie Alice plays the bold Gruffalo’s child.
Andrew Mudie, who amused the mums as much as the infants that they jiggled in encouragement, played familiar characters of the snake, owl and fox with comic confidence, although I'm not sure how well the line “I need a wee - pause - don’t worry I’ve done it now” went down with the toilet training parents!! The songs enlivened the auditorium more than the slower narration did, which I’m sure will gain pace as the run gets going and the set and costumes, although not big budget replicas, were cleverly designed to reflect Axel Scheffler’s beautiful original imagery in the book.
Since first staging The Gruffalo sixteen years ago and the subsequent Gruffalo’s Child, the artistic team have been refining and tweaking the songs and the setting, successfully taking the show to the Edinburgh Fringe and on tour as they finessed this current adaptation. The Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue this Christmas is their most ambitious run to date and it looks set to be a box office success. The performance that I saw was about two-thirds full, impressive attendance for a midweek morning during school term time. I was told that tickets have been selling fast as they head towards Christmas so don’t hang around if you’re thinking about booking.
Fifteen years ago, Trevor Nunn, the then Artistic Director of the National Theatre, was condemned for mounting productions of popular musicals such as Oklahoma!, Anything Goes and My Fair Lady. But, he protested, the National Theatre is for all people - why should not we who fund the National Theatre and like musicals, not see the best musicals there?