REVIEW | The Enormous Crocodile, Leeds Playhouse
Elliotte Williams-N'Dure in The Enormous Crocodile. Credit Manuel HarlanWritten by Joseph
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.
General warnings: moments of darkness and flashing lights
A snappy, funny, riotous children’s musical to really sink your teeth into!
The Enormous Crocodile is a new musical version of the original Roald Dahl story. Telling the tale of a large croc (Shock) that is trying to find a child to eat. Other members of the jungle are there to stop his naughty plans and clever tricks, to keep the unsuspecting prey safe.
The staging is stunning, creating the theatre into a swamp, with wonderful scenery, puppetry and even bubbles, all the staples of a jungle!
The puppetry is magnificent and fits the Dahl aesthetic perfectly, each character had their own unique voice. My only gripe was that the crocodile’s mouth didn’t move when they spoke, which seemed strange when the mouth opened to laugh, just took me out of it for a second.
The audience interaction was pitched perfectly for the target audience, feeling at times like a pantomime, the auditorium was jam-packed with kids who loved this, and even adults who surrendered themselves to the silliness, enjoyed it, myself included. A personal highlight was being given hundreds of monkey nuts to throw at the crocodile.
The music was so good as it was very simple but it meant it was accessible for the kids, they could sing along at times but it was still good quality. Having reflections of Andrew Lloyd Webber, but much better (in my opinion) set the tone well and added to the show.
Now we come to the children in the show. 3 girls are girl guides under a different name. They are part puppets and part real human heads. These were simultaneously terrifying and hilarious. The way they moved and interacted was so strange because of the method of puppetry but once you got used to it, they were very funny. Imagine an adult’s head on a small child’s body.
The ensemble worked really well together having to play multiple animals or children, the Enormous Crocodile’s (Elliotte Williams-N’Dure) vocals were particularly impressive, which is no surprise since she has previously been in Moulin Rouge on the West End! Lawrence Hodgson-Mullings was great as Humpy Rumpy the Hippo. I’ve never identified with a Hippo as much and loved it when he looked me directly in the eye in the stalls. Philippa Hogg’s Roly Poly Bird impressed me with their puppetry skills and it’s always nice to hear a regional accent that you wouldn’t expect.
The rest of the ensemble (Charis Alexandra, Robyn Sinclair, Laura Buhagiar) played various roles to fill out the jungle. Everyone pulled their weight and all together created a very fun and engaging atmosphere.
At 55 minutes with no interval, it was also very fast-paced and didn’t give the audience any time for boredom. One of the most concise shows I have seen.
If you’re not fancying a panto this year, but still want to take the kids to a show, or even if you’re just a big kid like me, I highly recommend going to see The Enormous Crocodile. See you later, Alligator. In a while…
The Enormous Crocodile is at Leeds Playhouse until 6th January
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
