REVIEW: The Gruffalo, Apollo Theatre

Children's theatre is a somewhat frightening, but pretty exhilarating experience for an adult not used to it. Take a well-known children's book and translate to stage, add a mix of 4-year-olds who haven't yet learnt that shrieking at the actors throughout a show is not the done thing and you have semi-chaos, but a lot of fun nonetheless.

This is a show perfect for families with smaller children, for whom The Gruffalo is a classic, to the extent that they know all the words contained within and are not afraid (and indeed encouraged) to shout them out throughout. Although it is by no means the most spectacular children's theatre show around, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffer's sparky 55-minute adaptation kept the kids amused with a variety of silly, well-placed gags - as well as the adults, though for different reasons than the children. It tells the story of a mouse on the hunt for a nut, who scares off predators by telling them of the fearsome monster she is on the way to meet. The twist is that the monster doesn't exist... or does he?

With well-balanced comic performances from a twinkly Naomi Said as the mouse, man-of-a-thousand-voices Napoleon Ryan as a variety of woodland creatures and the imposing but adorable Alan Park as storyteller and Gruffalo, there was something for everyone in this polished production (current cast not pictured in image). Although it was hard to hear what was going on at points - Ryan's hilarious Spanish, hip-wiggling snake song could barely be heard over the audience - and the children appeared to sympathise with the Gruffalo over the mouse - it was a charming, manic show that will get the kids going this Christmas.