The Smartest Giant in Town by Fierylight & Little Angel Theatre at Lichfield Garrick

Look up, look down, the Smartest Giant's in town!

Julia Donaldson books are that great combination of utterly brilliant stories, exceptionally clever rhymes and little repetitive hooks. So when you are a 3 year old fan of The Smartest Giant in Town and your mum and dad know the book almost word for word, you want the stage show to be true to the book. In this case Fierylight and Little Angel Theatre get this spot on. When George the Giant stepped onto the stage of Lichfield Garrick Theatre, his costume was just like the book and so was what he said. I knew we were in for a great show and the smile on my preschooler's face confirmed it.

The Smartest Giant had a clever mix of actors and puppetry for the animals. We loved the part where George got fitted out for his new clothes. It was very funny with some great jokes for the parents from 'French speaking' Simone who threw out some French vocab: 'pret a manger,' 'JoJo BeBe Maman' to convince us of her couture credentials. George looked very smart indeed in his new clothes but as all Smartest Giant readers know it all started to go wrong.

The animals that George met along his way were well designed puppets which the young audience clearly appreciated. The first animal that we met was a giraffe worn by an actor. As George took off his tie to give it to the giraffe, he dropped it and it reappeared as a larger versions when he picked it up. This was a clever was of making things 'giant sized' for the creatures. The children quickly caught onto this joke and where waiting to see how things remerged to fit the creatures.

When my husband reads The Smartest Giant, he always gives the dog a Brummie accent so he was delighted to see that Fierylight and Angel Theatre had allocated him one too. "I always knew the dog was a Brummie," he whispered in my ear! My girls liked the mice as they squeaked along and were rescued from their burning house. The important thing was though that the order was right. The little boy who was in front of me knew exactly who was coming each time and it was very sweet to hear how pleased he was.

the Smartest Giant is currently on tour. Have a look at the link to see if it's coming near you.

https://smartestgiantonstage.co.uk

All photos credited to Ellie Kurttz and Fierylight

Special thanks to Lichfield Garrick for inviting us along to review the show.

Comments

Preparing to Potty Train

I do not have the perfect method for potty training. I am not an expert. I found potty training my daughter to be really, really hard work. This blog aims to share my experiences about how we prepared for potty training. I have found a great deal of support and encouragement from other parents, people who have been through similar experiences. Sometimes conversations make me think- ‘I’d never do that!’ or ‘Great idea’ or just reminded me that I needed to get on and do something. I hope that reading this is like having an encouraging friend. We started quite early for most children in the UK at 20 months. Back in the 70s and 80s this was pretty common from what I can gather so I decided to just get on with it. There were some reasons which influenced my decision- Little Lady wore cloth nappies some of the time and truthfully, I was fed up of the dreaded soaking bucket in the garage. She also hated having her nappy changed by this age and would cry and scream- I’d had enou...

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, ...

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...

Capable Child

Search This Blog