Skip to main content

Zog at Town Hall Birmingham


Zog is Julia Donaldson family favourite. Dragons, princesses, knights, humour and a strong female with high aspirations. The book is a winner and so we were very keen to see the play while it was on at the Town Hall in Birmingham. So it seems, were many other families! When we arrived at the venue, there was a queue of pushchairs, parents, grandparents and lots of under-fives. There was a buzz of excitement in the air as we went inside and found our seats in the packed auditorium.

Having seen previous Freckle Productions shows, we eagerly awaited their winning combination of music and puppetry. We firstly met Princess Pearl who opened in song. The puppets also soon arrived on set. We were kept amused by a pair of rabbits and a flexible frog. As we watched the opening scenes, I could hear children around beginning to whisper, “Where’s Zog?” Zog was clearly a favourite and the children were waiting for their first glimpse.

The dragons arrived on stage and Zog received a cheer. The dragon puppets were operated by actors in costume. Sometime the puppets were telling the story and at other times, the actors in matching colours took over the story. We enjoyed watching the dragons dance and tumble around. Whilst Zog remained our definite favourite, the blue dragon and his antics kept us amused.

We know the book very, very well and, like many JD fans, could quite possibly recite huge chunks of the text. So a downside to the production for us was that the show followed the spirit of the book and told the story but not as precisely as we had hoped. The show merged together the learning in dragon school whereas we love reading what the dragons do in each year. You will be relieved to know that Zog did get his golden star. The audience gave a cheer at this point!

Sir Gadabout the Great was a brilliant character in the show. The young audience were clearly entertained by his prancing around the stage and his hapless ways. His song was very funny and we all laughed when he told us that his mum called him GG. I love the way Freckle Productions challenged stereotypes by making GG the nurse, helping Princess Pearl the doctor.

We really enjoyed seeing the show, as did many other families, particularly the clever puppetry. This is a show for all ages. It’s an hour of great entertainment with music, dance, jokes, puppets and the undisputable star of the show, Zog.

Thanks to The Town Hall for inviting us along to review the show.

The show runs at Town Hall, Birmingham over the Easter Bank holiday weekend https://www.thsh.co.uk/event/zog
Tickets cost £13

The shows continues its tour around the country, details at https://www.freckleproductions.co.uk/shows/zog/tour-dates
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Starting School

Starting school is a huge event in a child’s (and parent’s) life. There are new routines, new clothes and other new children. Having seen this transition as a Deputy Head Teacher, and more recently as a parent, I believe that there are some things that parents can do to make this move as smooth as possible. Here are my top four thoughts. Firstly, there are some brilliant books about starting school. My all-time favourite is Starting School by the Alhbergs. It’s obviously dated in parts. For instance, most schools won’t have a mum who comes into school to play the piano! However, it is beautifully illustrated and shows the different parts of the school day and  events during the first term at school which provide lots to talk about. Other great titles are ‘Bella Starts School’ and ‘Harry and the Dinosaurs go to School’, both by Ian Whybrow. It’s well worth investing in a book or two, as they can be revisited lots of times during the school year. Secondly, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

Birmingham’s Symphony Hall is an impressive venue. What better place, therefore, to see and hear the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) perform a special family concert: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. When Catherine Arlidge walked onto the stage to present the show, I just knew that we were going to enjoy it. I have been to family concerts hosted by her before and she has a relaxed, fun style that puts everyone at ease. The concert was split into bite sized chunks with children waiting for the pause button visual at the end of musical pieces to shout out “PAUSE" before finding out more about the orchestra and enjoying games with Catherine. The show lasted about an hour and passed quickly- even for my eight month old who was being bounced on my lap. Catherine explained that the orchestra was colour coded for the performance. For instance, all the strings were wearing red. This visual image made it very straightforward for the children in the audi...
Post a Comment
Read more

MiniBrum

What is it? MiniBrum is a play space for under eights based on the theme of a mini Birmingham. There are different areas for children to explore including a canal barge, a construction zone and a shop. The whole of MiniBrum is designed to support children’s role play and exploration of real life spaces. The unique interactive gallery has been created with the input of over 800 children and families from across Birmingham. Where is it? Mini Brum is part of ThinkTank which is Birmingham’s science museum. MiniBrum is on the third floor next to the recently revamped planetarium. Entry to ThinkTank is £14 per adult and £10.25 per child. Under 3’s are free and during Birmingham term time there is a special adult and toddler (aged 3-5) ticket for £15. Another great offer is the £3 per person entry fee after 3pm on term time weekdays. When does it open? It opens to the public on 25 th May in time for half term. I would expect it to be very busy. My advice woul...
1 comment
Read more