How scary should a crocodile be?
That for me was the issue at the heart of Suhayla El-Bushra and Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab’s jaunty mid-budget kids’ musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s picture book, which concerns a gang of timid jungle creatures who join forces to see off a crocodile who has decided that it absolutely must eat a human child.
Emily Lim’s production is blessed with very eye-catching, very witty puppets from Toby Olié (whose lavish ‘Spirited Away’ designs can currently be seen in the West End). From the bug-eyed croc who assembles and disassembles in numerous clever ways as he adopts sundry disguises in an effort to lure a group of children into his mouth, to the amusingly realised children themselves (basically members of the ensemble with little puppet child bodies dangling absurdly under their heads), it looks great. Lim’s production has lots of lovely flourishes, from the smoke-filled bubbles that drift through the OAT at the beginning and end of the show, to the opportunity to pelt the crocodile with (foam) peanuts.
But while it’s certainly one of Dahl’s tamest stories (not to be confused with his macabre poem ‘The Crocodile') something feels a little off about its total lack of peril. Malinda Parris is a game performer as the crocodile – a triple threat of sorts as she acts, sings and controls a complicated puppet – but she plays him as a bumbling, fruity-voiced panto villain who never seems very threatening, or likely to succeed in his quest. There’s an air of danger to the book that’s lacking here, both in terms of the crocodile and his eventual comeuppance. The simple, soulful songs are good at underscoring what’s going on for a young audience, but we’re not in banger territory and again the jolly music serves to diffuse any sense of menace.
A cute and peppy kids’ show with great puppets, but even at his gentlest, Dahl without the dark streak doesn’t feel quite right.