Zog

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Expect fire breathing, giggles and a whole lot of roaring in this light-hearted adaptation of the best-selling picture book. Sharon Wallace and her three children loved Zog at Kingston’s Rose Theatre, on until February 23...

DETAILS

Venue: Rose Theatre, Kingston

Dates: 14 February - 23 February (£15 book here)

OUR VERDICT

If you’ve got little people in your life, chances are you are familiar with the renowned storybooks by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. And if you’re a fan you’ll be delighted to hear that the stage adaptation of Zog is currently premiering at the Rose Theatre ahead of its 2019 UK tour.

I took my three to see the show on Sunday, ideally timed for the half-term break. We opted for the morning performance to navigate nap times. Mine are all still quite young so 11 am was perfect for us.

My two girls, aged two and four, have been somewhat fixated with the heart-warming tale of Zog since seeing the TV premiere showing that I recorded for them on Christmas day. Subsequently, we have been watching it over and over….until we’re all word perfect! So naturally, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to see Zog and his dragon pals in the scaly flesh.

The excitement had been building at home for this for a couple of days and the stage performance certainly didn’t disappoint. It was all eyes front as the kids followed the playfully eager and somewhat haphazard dragon, Zog, in his pursuit of a gold star from his teacher, Madame Dragon. As his diligent endeavours fall short and he ends up bumped and scraped, he finds himself in the caring hands of the spirited Princess Pearl who, as luck would have it, is never short of a bandage or two.

There’s very little in terms of scenery and props, with some rigging sitting centre stage for the actors to scale. But this doesn’t detract from the story at all as the cast of five switches seamlessly between the roles of actor and puppeteer with impressive handcrafted dragons that fly up and out into the audience on elongated poles. Cheery folk score accompanies the show throughout as the cast sing and dance along.

There are laughs aplenty as the dragons; Zog, Pip and Harry continue clumsily in their quest to capture a princess using upturned mops. But it is Princess Pearl who finally leads them to that long-awaited gold star. My four-year-old says this was her favourite part. The audience clap and cheer as the star lights up. But is this little dragon brave enough to take on a duel with the knight, Sir Gadabout the Great and free Princess Pearl?

This show is great for all ages. Even my 12-month-old seemed gripped!