Elizabeth Marriott enjoy a fun-filled adaptation of the classic children’s book Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
I wrote to the Zoo to send me a pet… and they sent me a… Bright, engaging, and fun-filled half term performance of Rod Campbell’s classic children’s book at the Redgrave Theatre!
We voyaged on a blustery half term morning the few miles across Bristol, filled with excitement about taking in the Norwell Lapley Production of Dear Zoo Live on Stage, a wonderful adaption of Rod Campbell’s classic children’s book.
Rod Campbell’s source material has been a children’s classic for 40 years, since its publication in 1982. Our copy has been loved by both boys (five and two) and very often read, if the well worn state of several of the flaps are anything to go by. Its prominence in no doubt aided by the nostalgia of the fact it’s one of the few cultural items that straddles both of our children’s first years.
The Redgrave Theatre, on Clifton’s Percival Road, is a perfectly sized and welcoming theatre for such an affair, and we knew we’d found the right place from some distance away owing to the steady stream of young children and their grown ups approaching from all directions.
The theatre’s staff were friendly and welcoming, with adequate space for buggy parking. A bar in the reception provided a range of snacks and drinks, although it was hard to distract our kids from the array of confectionary. We found our way easily to our seats, all of which afforded a fine view of the stage and the auditorium quickly began to fill. Even the background music had our children laughing and dancing in their seats!
The show started with the introduction of Sam, the very enthusiastic (if not especially well versed in the desirable attributes of domestic pets) zoo keeper, who left such an impression on our younger he spoke about him for much of the rest of the day! From the outset, audience participation and interactivity were established, with delightful cheers and shouts coming from all around me in response to the requests of the actors.
As per the book, a series of boxes (charmingly identical to the illustrations) are delivered by Sam to the cheerful and upbeat duo of Ben (whose letter to the zoo precipitated the whole endeavour) and Sally. The audience were clearly familiar with the story as excited shouts naming the creatures in each box erupted as soon as they were wheeled on stage. The animals themselves were a mixture of cut-outs, puppets and, as a crescendo to the fun, a costumed frog and monkey. Each story presented with a range of short appealing songs and actions to copy.
In terms of our audiences response, our five year old spent much of the performance copying dance moves in front of his seat, calling out in response to the actors and laughing. The two year old, meanwhile, was a little quieter throughout (this was maybe his first trip to the theatre, and he did get rather hot given the sold out audience and bright theatre lights), but sat there engrossed by the performance and chattered a lot about it afterwards.
With a performance time of around 55 minutes, it held both of their attention for the duration, whilst feeling like a worthy half term trip out. Needless to say the book was read at both naptime and bedtime today!