Review: Zog entertains young theatre-goers at Rose Theatre this half-term

‘I’m flapping my wings!’

When we were walking back to the car after having attended a preview of the new Freckle Productions stage adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s children’s book Zog, three-year-old Big Boy was jumping on one leg and flapping his wings in an attempt to imitate the friendly dragon. For him, Zog had been a joy to watch live on stage at Rose Theatre, and he had spent the past hour clapping, waving his arms in the air and singing ‘Zog, Zog, Zog.’

The show, adapted and directed by Mike Shepherd, tells the story about charming Zog, who goes to a school where dragons are taught how to be dragons by learning skills like roaring and flying. Zog tries hard to succeed to win a golden star, but everything is a struggle at first, and he keeps needing assistance from the kind Princess Pearl who patches him up when he’s hurt.

In the stage adaptation, the likeable Zog was a hit with the audience, and when he was first introduced there was plenty of clapping. The enthusiasm continued when the dragons succeeded in learning a new skill, and Big Boy was impressed with the roar, for example, commenting that ‘it was very loud’.

I was impressed by the number of instruments played by the cast in this show, and the tunes were so catchy that I still find myself singing on a ‘Zog, Zog, Zog’ song.

The minimalist set design reminded me of a huge climbing frame, and the show benefits from colourful costumes and charming puppets. In fact, a highlight was seeing the dragon puppets ‘flying’ around in between the aisles.

Three-year-old Big Boy was mesmerised, and our enjoyable morning out made me realise we needed the book too, which we bought on the way home from the show and have read numerous times afterwards.

Zog is playing at Rose Theatre Kingston until 23 February prior to a UK tour

Tags: Children's theatre, Half term, Julia Donaldson, Kingston, Rose Theatre, What's on stage, Zog