The hugely popular Julia Donaldson children’s book “Zog” - a large in size and keen in nature young orange-coloured dragon comes to life on stage in this hour long adaptation of the much-loved book. Now not having children of my own I’m unfamiliar with the character however I only needed to look at the tour poster to spot the familiar artwork of Axel Scheffler - who also provided the artwork for “Stick Man” - another popular Julia Donaldson children’s book (one of my younger nieces watches it on repeat to the point where I can almost recite it word-for -word!)
The adaptation takes us through Zog and friends Harry, a pink dragon, and Pippin, a blue dragon, with five years at Dragon School where Madam Dragon (a green Dragon) teaches them all the things that a dragon needs to know; from how to fly, how to roar, how to breath fire and how to capture a princess.
Using a live band with a fabulous folk score, (the puppeteers flit from instrument to puppet seamlessly) dressed in detailed costumes to match the dragon puppets they incorporate through various parts of the story - to the point where you often stop noticing the person behind the dragon puppet) - flying into the audience in this magical adaptation, Katie Sykes’ design effortlessly lifts the book from the page and creates a mesmerising realistic fantasy world. From the larger puppets to the smaller ones - two crows and two rabbits (including a rabbit that can bark like a dog!), the amount of detail that has gone into this set made it seem as if I were reading a giant pop-up book.
Whilst rabbits do not feature in the original book I felt they added to the experience by engaging with the young audience as the storytelling began, having us laughing as one rabbit showed the other how it could bark and make people think it was a dog.
Emily Benjamin acted as a narrator throughout most of the story, in the role of Princess Pearl, along with forming part of the live band. I’m always somewhat apprehensive taking a pre-schooler along to live theatre. Having taken toddlers along to several different live theatre performances - some have been an utter success, holding their concentration, giving them the encouragement and confidence to join in with audience participation and bringing out laughs a plenty; whilst others have failed within the first five minutes and resulted in a rather fidgety or tearful toddler. Given that the majority of youngsters today were predominantly toddlers plus several newborns, I was relieved to see and hear the many laughs and squeals of delight by every youngster in the packed-out theatre. The cast and crew have succeeded in being a memorable experience for younger theatre goers, the hour-long performance (no interval) being just the right amount of time to get full concentration from such a young audience. An absolute must see for this age group - a roaring success in making theatre accessible for the younger audience. I am pleased to see the tour ends closer to home in West Yorkshire so I have the opportunity to take along some more of my younger family members.
September 2019 brings the arrival of another Julia Donaldson book “Tabby McTat” to Salford, and having experienced the magic of Zog and witnessing the sheer delight from the young audience, I eagerly await this next magical adaptation.
Reviewer - Lottie Davis-Browne
on - 7/6/19
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