The Princess and the Frog at The Hawth Crawley Review
The Princess and
the Frog
The Hawth, Crawley
12 February 2017
Reviewed by Amanda Hayes
We spent the perfect cold winter’s morning at The Hawth in Crawley watching the children’s ballet The Princess and the Frog. The production is by Let’s All Dance which specialises in making dance available to everyone. This particular show is billed as suitable for age 2-9.
Although the scenery is extremely simple and there are only two dancers they quickly and easily bring the classic story to life through dance. To assist the younger audience a verbal backdrop is provided occasionally to ensure they understand the story.
The ballet follows the classic story in which a beautiful Princess befriends a frog and kisses him turning him back into a Prince. This follows a spell from an evil witch which previously turned him into a frog. My four year old son, one of only a few boys in the audience, knows the story well and queried why the frog didn’t have green legs, but otherwise the ballet followed the well-known book’s storyline well. The two dancers from Let’s All Dance ensured the audience’s attention by getting several of the children to join them on stage to dance with them which was a lovely idea.
The show was held in The Studio which is a small room holding up to 146 spectators and was perfect for this event, anything bigger would have lost the intimacy of the ballet. The Hawth itself is easy to get to and has plenty of free parking right outside, a well-stocked café, and easy access for the disabled.
The Princess and the Frog is a beautiful short story running for only 30 minutes, yet is captivating, mesmerising and a perfect introduction to ballet for young children. It was predominantly a female audience but don’t let that put you off if you have boys, my son really enjoyed it, he just didn’t want to purchase any of the pink merchandising!
Rating: 5/5 
The Princess and the Frog is currenly on tour until 19 March 2017, for more information and tour dates visit www.lets-all-dance.co.uk/the-princess-and-the-frog-ballet-production.
For other shows at The Hawth in Crawley visit www.parkwoodtheatres.co.uk.
The Hawth, Hawth Avenue, Crawley, Sussex, RH10 6YZ | 01293 553636
