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

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