THERE can't be many
parents of pre-schoolers who are not familiar with The Gruffalo.
Written by
award-winning author Julia Donaldson in 1999, and with the now
familiar illustrations of Axel Scheffler, the delightful tale of the
brave and wily mouse who meets the unassuming monster in the deep
dark wood has sold millions of copies around the world, spawned the
sequel, The Gruffalo's Child, and was even adapted into a film shown
on the BBC in 2009.
For those who may not
have come across it, it is the story of a mouse who takes a walk
through the woods one day and comes across three of his natural
predators.
By sheer cunning he
manages one by one to convince them not to eat him and instead to
worry about the Gruffalo, a creature with, amongst other things,
terrible teeth in his terrible jaws, prickles all over his back and a
poisonous wart at the end of his nose, and who is partial to roasted
fox, owl ice cream and scrambled snake.
It is currently the
subject of a stage play, now on at the Lyric Theatre in the West End
and starring Streatham-based actor Tom Crook in the title roll.
For the 31-year-old it
is a dream job, despite the costume which he admits is not designed
for non air-conditioned theatres.
"It's an amazing
show. The reaction we've had so far has been fantastic and I'm having
such a blast doing it but the costume makes me get very hot and
sweaty," he laughs cheerfully. "It's like a boiler suit of
fur."
He has joined the show
after a successful UK tour in The Gruffalo's Child.
"Julia Donaldson's
stories are beautifully written and are now considered modern
classics," he says.
"I leapt at the
chance to be in both shows because the characters are so well known
and described so well in the books and kids love them.
"We get lots of
audience participation as you can imagine which is fantastic. Kids
are the best audience," he adds.
"They don't sit
politely, they are with us the whole way through the show, laughing,
singing, shouting, up on their feet, pointing and just having the
best time - which is just as it should be. It's brilliant."
The show is about an
hour long and has enabled the creative team to "flesh out"
the story and its characters as well as introduce some music and
songs.
"There are only
about 80 lines in the book so it's given us a chance to think about
what the animals would look, talk and act like if they were human
which has been fun," says Tom.
"The snake is
slinky, a good mover and quite vain! The Owl is quite stuffy and
rigid so we've created him as a world war fighter pilot and the fox
is a country squire.
"It's really
brought them to life and the audience gets to see them for a bit
longer than they appear in the book.
"The kids love it
though - but woe betide any of us who says the wrong word or in the
wrong order," he chuckles. "They know the story so well
they can recite it perfectly and are not afraid to tell us if we've
got it wrong. It's fantastic.
"But it just shows
the brilliance of the book - the fact that children have taken to it
in the way they have."
The show runs until mid
January before it goes on another tour so Tom will be wearing his
costume a while yet.
"We are taking it
to Hong Kong and Singapore for a children's festival there which will
be fun though it will mean wearing the fur a bit longer.
"It makes you
realise how many theatres aren't air conditioned and just concrete
boxes with lights."
And then it will be
back home to Streatham where he's lived for the past three years.
"It's the longest
time I've lived anywhere in London and I love it," he enthuses.
"People give it a bad press but I think it's very unfair.
"It's got great
transport links - fantastic for getting to the West End when I'm
working there - and loads of great shops and cafés.
"It has a real
proper community feel to it and is really vibrant - what's not to
love!"
The Gruffalo is on at
the Lyric until Sunday, January 12. Tickets cost from £14. Call the
box office on 0844 482 9674
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