The Gruffalo Live on Stage at the New Theatre, Cardiff Review
The Gruffalo
New Theatre, Cardiff
Reviewed by Tracey Silver
After enjoying the book with my children, I was very much looking forward to taking my 4 year old son to see The Gruffalo Live at the New Theatre in Cardiff. The theatre itself is a lovely venue, which is conveniently located in the heart of the city centre, and is very easily accessible via all modes of transport.
As we took our seats in the circle we had a great view of the stage, and the set, a forest scene, although simple looked very effective. For those who aren’t familiar with the story of The Gruffalo (where have you been?) it is based on a little mouse who in an effort not to become lunch, outwits its predators, a fox an owl and a snake. The mouse tells them tales of a scary imaginary creature called the Gruffalo, who turns out to be not so imaginary after all!
This show is a great adaptation of the story, and very cleverly done with a cast of only 3 people, in parts throughout it follows the wording of the book quite closely, which is good as it helps the younger members of the audience relate back to the story, it also includes audience participation in the form of singing and dancing which the children always love. However I have to say that I was very disappointed in the lack of costumes, the mouse for example wore khaki trousers and t shirt, with a belt for a tail, pink gloves and trainers, and hair loosely fashioned into ears, and the other characters were even more lacking in the costume department. I think this was quite confusing for a lot of the children, it definitely didn’t capture my sons imagination, as I think he just didn’t relate to the characters enough. The Gruffalo costume was a little better, however it didn’t really resemble the character in the book closely enough in my opinion.
At around 55 minutes long, I would say that this is a good length for a children’s show, however I did find my son was getting a bit fidgety from time to time, especially during some of the songs and extra material used to draw the production out, I also think the fact that the scenery was the same throughout didn’t help in making it that little bit more exciting for the children.
Overall we both enjoyed The Gruffalo, however I think there are some simple improvements which would make it much more appealing to the younger audience. I would be more inclined to recommend it to a slightly older age of 4 or 5 year olds rather than the recommended age of 3+. I would give this production 3 out of 5.
Rating: 3/5
The Gruffalo Live is currently on tour around the UK. For more information on tour dates or to book tickets at a venue near you visit www.gruffalolive.com.
New Theatre, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3LN | 029 2087 8889
