The adapted stage production of Oi Frog and friends by Emma Earle, Zoe Squire, Luke Bateman and Richy Hughes is a colourful and extremely well-presented collection of the well-known animals from the best-selling books by Kes Gray.
Sitting bottom School for animals is led by their prefect, Cat played by Lucy Tuck as seen below and her large red rule book. She makes it very clear in her stern stance that she will only allow each animal to sit on an item that rhymes with their name from the mules on stools, foxes on boxes and hares on chairs.
However, when newcomer Frog (John Winchester) arrives he protests at being told to sit on a log as he doesn’t want any splinters. With the help of his newfound best friend Dog (Darren Seed), Things at the school are about to undergo some changes as to who will now who sit on what.
The productions appeal to younger audiences is in abundance from the brightly coloured stage props, ingenious costumes designed by Chris Barlow and the Puppets of characters like frog and meerkat by designer Yvonne Stone.
The highlight of the show for me was the Cheetah cabaret-style act by Simon Yadoo who is pictured above in his colourful attire. His vibrant costume and all singing and dancing act was an absolute delight to watch.
The reactions from the children in the audience were clear to see just how much they all absolutely enjoyed this production with all the laughter, eagerness to join in when they were asked to and the rapturous applause at the end. Seeing an audience of smiling children leave is a clear indication of what they thought.
The actors coin the phrase “rhyme fever” in this production and although for some of the younger audience they may not fully understand the meaning of it the catchy phrase will probably stay in their memory. I thought it was a very clever technique to use in this production
The storyline is straight forward and easy to follow which will hold the younger audiences attention. Although this production is aimed towards younger children the adults in the audience also looked as if they were enjoying themselves too and it is an incredibly entertaining family production.
Five Stars.
Photographs by Pamela Raith.
Please check out the link below for performance details and ticket information.
Theatre, Films and Art reviews 