Review by Raphael Kohn
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
There’s not one but two musicals at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre this season. Playing on selected dates during the daytime, the Leeds Playhouse production of the brand-new musical based on Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile snaps its way across the stage. Written and designed for kids in mind, it’s a colourful, energetic day out, and running at just 55 minutes (providing the show doesn’t stop due to rainfall), a fantastic bite-sized introduction to theatre for young children, enough to give them a taste for more.
One of Dahl’s simpler stories, The Enormous Crocodile is quite plainly about… a rather large reptile. Which happens to be very large indeed, one might even say ‘enormous’. It also happens to be a crocodile. Oh, and it also wants to eat children.
That’s really the bulk of it. The rest of the show is short, snappy sketches of the different animals of the jungle exploring bravery, community, and most importantly, imparting key messages to children: to be brave, and principally, a warning of stranger danger. After all, who should trust a huge, evil crocodile with its sharp teeth and bellowing voice?
Now remember, it’s a children’s show. It’s not exactly filled with nuance or deep, metaphysical meaning. It’s filled with wee, fart and bottom jokes. Which is precisely right for the audience – at the press matinee there were a number of school groups absolutely transfixed and engaged – which serves as a pretty good indicator for how well it speaks to its target audience.
It's also full of audience interaction, with plenty of shout-out moments and call-and-response opportunities. Director Emily Lim makes the most of the space, extending the action into and around the auditorium to take it to each and every audience member, using Toby Olié’s puppets to the best of their capabilities to engage those at the back as much as the front.
But there’s more to it than that. This is, a sthe title suggest, a musical, after all. And what a musical it is – pop, jazz and classic Musical Theatre styles are all thrown in the mix. They’re performed live by the cast, and an onstage MD in a booth. Disappointingly however, a full band is nowhere to be found despite the sound coming out of the speakers. Instead, it’s mostly sung to a pre-recorded backing track, which is a bit of a shame for this calibre of venue.
The songs themselves, however, are tremendous. From the first moments of the boisterous, scene-setting opening number ‘The Enormous Crocodile’, you know you’re in for a treat. This leads perfectly into the jazzy ‘Secret Plans and Clever Tricks’, where we meet our titular villain, which gets reprised throughout the show to become the evil Enormous Crocodile’s calling card. The fun ‘Safety First’, introducing the children who must escape the Crocodile’s attacks lends an almost Sound of Music-esque vibe to the piece, while a welcome slow in the pace is found in the anthemic ‘Brave’. They’re penned by a team of Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab (music) and Suhayla El-Bushra (lyrics, also the book), who clearly have a knack for making songs which are both accessible to all ages, yet catchy and memorable.
They’re performed brilliantly too, with a four-person multi-roling ensemble led by Malinda Parris as the Crocodile. She’s ferociously good, with a tremendous belt fit for the crocodile’s bellow and a tail-wiggling swagger as she skulks around the stage. She’s never fearsome enough to actually warrant fear from the children, treading that fine line carefully.
Her ensemble are a good mix too, with Nuwan Hugh Perera, Elise Zavou, Joanna Adaran and Audrey Brisson multi-roling and puppeteering a variety of characters. They all work together brilliantly, and are cast beautifully as a racially diverse group, and for each individual character, diverse in accents too. It’s just what children need in theatre to inspire them from an early age into careers in theatre – the saying ‘you cannot be what you cannot see’ rings true.
They’ve got great material to work with on stage as well, with the variety of puppets exciting and engaging the children in equal measure. Fly Davis’ cartoonish jungle fits in perfectly to the Open Air Theatre’s leafy surroundings, although it is a slight shame that the backing curtain is too transparent, resulting in actors and stage crew being visible as they cross over behind the stage.
But if that’s a negative aspect, it’s a small one. Because what really matters is the overall experience. I (not a child) had a great time. The children in the audience were frankly ecstatic as the actors came forward for their bows at the end. And if that’s not a good metric for the success of a children’s show, then nothing is. The raw enthusiasm it generated from them is hard to fake, and it’s impossible to ignore what an impact it had on them. So take your child to the jungle this summer. You might just change their life.
The Enormous Crocodile plays at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre until 8th June 2024 on selected days. Tickets from https://openairtheatre.com/production/the-enormous-crocodile
Photos by Johan Persson
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