Zog Live at The Lowry Review

Reviewed by Alison Rood

The moment I saw that another Julia Donaldson/Axel Scheffler adaptation was hitting our local theatre, I just knew we had to go!

Between us, myself and my 5 year old have been to see The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and we also have the Smeds and The Smoos booked in later in the year.

Julia and Axel’s books are a firm favourites in our house and have been for a number of years so we are always thrilled when they hit our TV screens or theatres.

Zog tells the story of a lovely orange Dragon (named Zog!) whose aim in life is to win a gold star at Madam Dragon’s school. He is certainly keen, and tries his hardest, but keeps getting pipped to the golden star post by his fellow class mates.

As we see him progress through school, he attends lessons in flying, roaring and breathing fire. We feel his disappointment at his own clumsiness as the show progresses. Bump on the head, burnt wing…..

But every cloud has a silver lining. His mishaps and injuries lead to him to Pearl, an aspiring nurse who keeps patching him up and sending him onto his next lesson(s)

As well as being a nurse, Pearl is also a Princess (albeit a reluctant one!) This sets Zog in great stead for his next lesson – How to rescue a Princess. Will Pearl be his chance to finally win a gold star? You will have to go and find out for yourself – no spoilers here!!

But, to rescue a Princess, you must learn to fight a Knight. This is where the hilarious Sir Gadabout shows up on his “horse”

My husband (scouse, male, 35 years) was in stitches at the scenes featuring the Knight. In fact, most of the audience were, very entertaining!

Despite the reputation of Knights, Gadabout is a sensitive soul. He has a deep dive into his own hopes and dreams and decides that duelling isn’t for him after all. Zog, Pearl and Gadabout form a lovely friendship and join forces to travel the world helping people (I am holding out hope for an adaptation of the sequel!!)

The story teaches us a lovely lesson; that we should never give up. We should keep trying and keep P-R-A-C-T-I-S-I-N-G (just one of the great, upbeat songs featured in the show)

The show is an hour long with no intervals, which was perfect for the age of the target audience – they didn’t get restless and were fully engaged and entertained. I say “target audience” liberally. My son is 5 and loved it. But so did I at 38. I also saw a few older kids (11+) who also seemed fully enthralled – proving further what a great show this is.

Zog Live was interactive in parts which was a nice touch. We were joining in with tongue teasers, tattling on cheating dragons, spelling and even held Gadabouts horse as he went into a duel.

Rating: 5/5 (and a golden star!!)

Zog flew into the Lowry, Salford Quays on the 4th of August and is there until 3rd September – perfect timing for the Summer Holidays.

In addition to Zog, the Lowry is also currently hosting a Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler exhibition. The exhibition is free to attend and features lots of amazing artwork and interactive things for the kids to get involved with. Great to tag onto Zog Live and make a day of it.

For more info and for booking, please visit https://thelowry.com/whats-on/zog/

Tickets start from £17 (worth every penny!)