The Mummy – she said that maybe we should
See the Gruffalo’s Child – she’d heard it was good
Why not? Why not? It’ll be a nice treat
The price is okay – £11 for each seat
The girls love the tale of the Gruffalo
I’m sure they would enjoy the show.”
What is the show like? It’s lots of fun
The story is really quite cleverly done.
A trio of actors play all of the parts
Mouse, played by one, tells the tale from the start
The Gruffalo’s Child is played by one more
And the final actor plays the other four:
The fox, snake and owl and the dad Gruffalo
Changing swiftly between them throughout the whole show
A cave and some trees – that’s the set
Which is moved round to good effect
The lighting transitions are also good
For setting the scenes of the cave and wood
And so the show started; my children both smiled
As into the woods went the Gruffalo’s child
Aha! Oho! Now who could this be
Appearing on stage? It’s Snake that we see!
His skin is glittery, his greeting hearty
Welcoming us to his skin-shedding party
The girls are both happily clapping along
As the actors on stage break into a song
The song ends and Snake retreats into his house
The Gruffalo’s Child hunts again for the mouse
Sophie got restless and a little bit wild.
“Stop kicking the seat!” I said to my child.
Aha! Oho! Now who could this be
Appearing on stage? It’s Owl that we see!
Down from his home in a treetop high
And ready to teach us all how to fly
All of a sudden we’re flapping our wings
In time to the song that Owl now sings
The song ends and Owl flies away to his house
The Gruffalo’s Child hunts again for the mouse
Jessica got restless and a little bit wild.
“Ssh, sit down!” hubby said to our child.
Aha! Oho! Now who could this be
Appearing on stage? It’s Fox that we see!
A smooth-talking salesman – has the audience bid
And the item for sale is the Gruffalo’s kid!
The song’s rather catchy; the girls are entranced
As they clap along, and in their seats dance.
The song ends and Fox retreats into his house
Does the Gruffalo’s Child still believe in the mouse?
“It’s all a trick!” she says with a sigh
But wait – there’s someone else passing by.
Who is this coming out of his house?
At last – could this be the Big Bad Mouse?
Not big, not bad, but a mouse at least
Just perfect to eat for a midnight feast
The mouse is smart, the mouse thinks fast
He won’t let this moment be his last
The mouse has got a cunning idea
To make the Big and Bad Mouse appear
The Gruffalo Child will get her wish
The Big Bad Mouse – he does exist!
If only she will just set him free
And let him climb up in that hazel tree,
Out comes the moon, all bright and round
What is this shadow we see on the ground?
A fierce, big bad mouse – a terrible sight
The Gruffalo’s Child is filled with fright
She turns and runs back to her house
She must escape the Big Bad Mouse!
Back to the cave where her dad’s still snoring
At least it’s safe, though it might be boring.
Aha! Oho! The actors bow
The Gruffalo’s Child is over now
The girls perhaps were a little too small
They couldn’t stay focused throughout it all
Another year on and perhaps they could
For the show was really rather good.
(with apologies to Julia Donaldson)
The Gruffalo’s Child is currently touring the country. More details about tour dates and venues can be found here.
I really enjoyed reading this review – you’ve written a great poem 🙂
#triedtested
Thank you Catherine – I enjoyed writing it! 🙂
What a fantastic review….It does sound like a great show.
Even if the girls were a little young it gives you a great excuse to go and see it again in the future x
Thanks Kim, it was good and I’m sure we’ll take the girls to something like it again! 🙂
What a brilliant way to review something! Great poem hun, I really enjoyed reading and The Gruffalo’s Child is on my list! 🙂
Thank you Morgan – it’s a great show to see 🙂
Cracking rhyming effort!
Thanks for sharing your review on #TriedTested this week x
Thank you Colette, lovely to link up 🙂
Love this rhyming post! So clever! The Gruffalo’s Child is on near us at the end of Feb, but sadly we can’t go. Love the book though! #TriedTested x
Thank you – such a shame you can’t make it to the show though. We love the book too! 🙂
Nicely done! I’m tempted by the shows based on Tilly’s favourite books but I think I’ll give it another year. Much too prone to explode at the moment and there’s the concentration span too.
Thank you Dan – I think waiting a little longer is a good plan – my girls enjoyed it but were quite restless at times.
This is inspired! It must have taken ages to get it to rhyme!
Thank you – it did take quite a while although I used the book as the template for the whole poem which helped a little.
So beautifully written Louise and what a treat for the girls to see #ThePrompt
Thank you Fiona 🙂
Absolutely loved reading this, very clever review! I really liked the three two line verses about the three different children, that was a great touch. Thank you so much for sharing with #ThePrompt x
Thank you Sara, I really enjoyed writing it 🙂
You clever lady – what a brilliant way to review a show! I love this piece of poetry. #ThePrompt xx
Thank you – I had so much fun writing it! 🙂
What a very innovative review! And a great tribute to one of our favourite characters. I must go and book tickets right away 🙂 #theprompt
Thank you – it was another blogger’s review that actually prompted me to get tickets too! Hope you enjoy it if you do manage to see it! 🙂
I don’t think you need to apologise to Julia Donaldson, this is a fine poem!
It’s a really unusual way to post a review – I like it and I’m glad you guys enjoyed the show!
#ThePrompt
xx
Thanks Tracey – I really enjoyed the challenge of trying to write it differently, glad you liked it! 🙂
Brilliant review! Very clever! Sounds like a great show too!
Thank you Becky – it was fun to write it up this way! 🙂