The Enormous Crocodile, Brighton Theatre Royal – 28 March
We all get bored of the same old dinners, so can we really blame The Enormous Crocodile when he tires of flamingo pie and fish bites and slinks off into the deepest depths of the jungle to satisfy his tummy rumblings?
This fun-filled, first-time musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s delicious storybook kicked off the Easter Holiday family fun at the Theatre Royal last weekend.
The venue was filled with families ready to be delighted by this charming, lively production during which the talented cast used song, dance and puppetry to bring this children’s favourite to life.
The beautifully-designed stage burst with green hues and foliage which set the scene and transported our imaginations to the deepest jungle, where we joined the devious reptile and his pals at a visit to the crocodile dentist.
A couple of foolhardy birds busily clean the crocodiles’ teeth, while waiting room chit chat turns to our antihero’s dubious dinner plans. The Enormous Crocodile wants to properly fill his tum and there is only one item on his menu, a podgy-toed, chubby-kneed real-life human child!
There are no human’s around his part of the jungle, so our fearsome foe leaves his pals to hunt down his prey.
Along the way, he comes across our gang of unlikely heroes, clever-old Trunky the Elephant, funky Muggle Wump the Monkey, Roly Poly Bird, and Humpy Rumpy Hippo.
Just one little problem – the well-meaning gang are all rightly terrified of the Enormous Crocodile. But, once they realise their jungle paradise has been inhabited by a group of young children, they are stirred into action, despite it being against their better nature.
Sound and light is used to great effect to create atmosphere and move the story throughout the day, from dawn at the riverbank to an atmospheric nighttime at the kids’ camp ground.
The talented cast of five show great enthusiasm, skill and stamina, moving between several roles during the busy production. They, seemingly-effortlessly, jump between roles as diverse as dental hygienist birds, French snails and young Jungle Juniors, as well as taking on the show’s main characters.
The lead is performed by Chelsea Da Silva who skilfully negotiates a number of crocodile configurations, at one point contorting him into a giant palm tree.
Marienella Phillips gives Muggle Wump some funky jungle moves, Precious Abimbola saves the day as Trunky, Ciara Hudson delights as the vain Roly Poly, while Jordan Eskeisa gets the big laughs as the nervous hippo with a trauma-induced farting condition.
The puppet design is inventive and appealing. The well-loved characters have been largely reimagined from Quentin Blake’s original iconic illustrations but retain all the charm to delight this young audience.
A fun score by Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab brings the energy, keeping the crowds feet stomping throughout.
Fans of Roald Dahl will appreciate this isn’t a show where the bad guy is just misunderstood and will learn his lesson and change his ways. And, as ever with Dahl stories, the grown-up humans don’t get off lightly either. Our well-meaning, but totally incompetent, Jungle Juniors leader was ‘disappeared’ offscreen by the cruel croc, paying the ultimate price for her very-1970s (the book was first published in 1978) interpretation of safeguarding!
There is plenty of audience participation throughout, which is enthusiastically embraced by the young crowd, and the grand finale sees our treacherous foe pelted with monkey nuts before being swung into space by Trunky the Elephant. Jungle justice is squarely handed out and our once-proud, primordial predator is reduced to a green sausage with eyes, wedged onto a fork. I almost felt sorry for him.
Every element of this production works to create a bright, lively world, bursting with creativity which keeps the audience engaged and entertained throughout.
A wonderful cast brought great skill to their multiple roles which required singing, dancing, puppeteering – all while interacting with a theatre full of sugar-pumped preschoolers. It was an absolute joy.
The production is touring across the UK during April and May. Visit The Enormous Crocodile for dates and to snap up tickets.
