The Gruffalo Reviews

Emma-Jayne Threadgold from Lancashire, England

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS

I can`t understand why anyone would write a bad review for this play....people complaining about the lack of costumes......stick to the cartoons!! We took our 3 year old daughter, who knew the story, and she absolutely loved it, joining in with all the little rhymes. I myself didn`t know the story, but was equally enthraulled by the whole thing......fantastic!! As for the theatre itself, to have a bad seat would be impossible. It`s a small, personal and absolutely beautiful place.

Michael Roots from London,

FANTASTIC FUN FOR THE FAMILY

Wow! all i can say is WOW. Brilliant storytelling and a fantastic trip out. My 2 young girls loved the show from start to finish! A must see!

Nigel Simpkins from London,

INVENTIVE AND BRILLIANT SHOW

Having taken my youngest to see the likes of other shows such as Peppa Pig and various others where they simply put on a disneyland esque character costume, i was delighted to see some invention was used in this show. I loved that he got to use his imagination and i just thought the storytelling was magnificent.. Had a little trouble getting oarked near the theatre but the show itself was brilliant! I wish it had of gone on longer!

Suburban mum from London,

LOVED IT

This is the second time we have sene the show, absolutely top class! Cant wait to see it a third time!

Carla Sanchez from London,

THE GRUFFALO

I thought this was possibly one of the best kids shows i have seen in a long time. We sadly were slightly late so missed the beginging of the show but what we saw was brilliant. And also great value and kudos for making an hour play out of the short book! Felt entirely natural! Carla

Carla Sanchez from London,

THE GRUFFALO

I thought this was possibly one of the best kids shows i have seen in a long time. We sadly were slightly late so missed the beginging of the show but what we saw was brilliant. And also great value and kudos for making an hour play out of the short book! Felt entirely natural! Carla

Anonymous from Salford

A HAPPY DAD

Went to the show with my 5 year old boy in Salford a few weeks ago. Although we were sat quite far back ( was a late ticket buy) we were still over the moon with the show. The theatre staff were also incrediblly helpfull in helping us to our seats and in generel.

Madge Carter from London,

TOP CLASS

The kids loved it, i loved it, great day out = one very happy mum!

Super Steve from Manchester

A GOOD TIME

At first was a bit shocked to see no character costumes, but we soon fell in love with the play. I would reccomend this to anyone who wants to enhance their little ones imaginations! Brilliant

Wendy from Broomsgrove

GREAT FUN

Loved it

Gerry from London,

CHILDREN LOVED IT!

We took a 3yr old and a 5yr old and they both loved this show. You have to appreciate the show for what it is, a very innovative take on a book you can read in minutes. The songs, humour and audience interaction were great; we didn't worry about the outfits too much because the characters were so personable and entertaining. Highly recommended but not sure The Lyric best venue as gently sloping seats do not offer best view for children.

Amanda Sureey from London,

A SHINING LIGHT IN THE DEEP DARK WOOD

Well.. where to start? Great acting, inventive costumes and lovely just a lovely production. We all just fell in love with it from the moment it started. GO AND SEE THIS! Amanda

T Kaz from London

REVIEW OF THE GRUFFALO

I have to agree with an earlier review regarding the minimum effort put on the custumes and stage sets. The positives. Well written play for kids. Good songs and well acted. One of the few plays I have been to with my kids where all the kids in the theatre were totally engrossed and partcipating. However custumes for the entire show probably cost £300, with the majority of the cost on the Gruffalo's outfit. Poor for a west end show. The mouse had a tail, red gloves and a ears dressed in black jeans and t-shirt. The Fox was in a country gents jacket and trousers and tail, Story teller/s in green combat jeans and t-shirt. The owl in pilots jacket, goggles & Jeans. Kids thought the snake and Gruffalo the best. The rest were lack lustre. The set has 4 trees. Type of set in a local town theatre. Meant story teller had to describe the scene, losing 1 or 2 kids. Why not have a fake stream. Parents comments leaving the show was the stage set and cutumes were very basic. However good show.

Sarah from London UK

GREAT FUN

We just came back from taking our 2yr and 3.5yr old to see the show this morning and we all had a great time. We sat in the stalls and everybody else around us seemed to enjoy it as well, as there was good audience participation by both children and adults (smiles and laughter all around). It's a shame how some of the other reviewers said they were disappointed at the production value and lack of effort. Anyone who feels that way might be lacking in a bit of imagination on their part because the cast did indeed put in a lot of effort. The set design was simple but one doesn't need anything elaborate to offer good performances and a fresh adaptation of a much loved story.

Tim corbett from London,

GRUFFALO

Disappointing lack of costume and set. Furthermore rake in the dress circle is appalling: children climbing on seats, held up by adults in order to see. Though children were engrossed more could have been done to get them involved in songs etc. No drama at the Gruffalo's appearance - he just came on. A feeling of an opportunity missed.

C.Cuckson from UK

THE GRUFFALO

We took our children who are 2 and nearly 4 to see this show. They loved the Gruffalo book and know it very well. The costumes were non-existent apart from the gruffalo. My daughter kept saying 'but they are just people Mummy" The mouse was wearing trousers and a T-Shirt with a long belt for a tail, you could barely tell it was the mouse. The fox, owl, and snake bore no resemblance to these animals at all. The dialogue was also too adult for most of the audience. There was lots of talking and the story was lost. Overall I was very disappointed.

Richard fuller from London, UK

LACK OF EFFORT

Could they not have gone to a fancy dress shop and spent £30 on a outfit? Mouse and wolf wearing jeans!!! They thought by sticking a tail children will believe it's an animal. Ok for a 2 year old. But older children will be disappointed. Not worth ticket and parking money.

Richard fuller from London, UK

LACK OF EFFORT

Could they not have gone to a fancy dress shop and spent £30 on a outfit? Mouse and wolf wearing jeans!!! They thought by sticking a tail children will believe it's an animal. Ok for a 2 year old. But older children will be disappointed. Not worth ticket and parking money.

Anonymous from London,

DIDN'T ENJOY THIS AT ALL

we took our 5 and 8 year old to see this at the weekend and were very disappointed. They were confused by the narrator who just shouted and jumped around and we were never quite sure what the point of him was. The script was very poor. The Grufallo is a story which rhymes and most of the children there could have probably rhymed along with the actors however it was unrecognisable as Julia Donaldson's book.

Gina from London, England

DISAPPOINTED

Sorry but I really didn't enjoy this and our 5 year old was bored by it. It is apparently just 3 actors on stage with no lighting or sound support. I couldn't understand why something that was supposed to have been set in a deep, dark forest was brightly lit throughout. If we had been to see it at our local community hall it would have been OK but I expect far more creative production values when going to the effort and expense of taking a 5 year old all the way to the West End.

Linda from London,

THE GRUFFALO

Poor costumes, (except for the gruffalo), the mouse did not have whiskers, a moustache on a snake! - children did not understand this. We were in the stalls so couldnot see the 'imaginary' stream. Disappointed in the show

Paul king from London,

GRUFFALO

very poor production, none of the characters resembled what they were supposed to be . a brown mouse should be in a brown costume , not a black leotard and pink ears .you wouldnt even know it was supposed to have been a fox on stage . the gruffalo costume was so bad that my grandaughter asked me when the gruffalo was coming on ! overall very poor, a waste of money

James Pearce from London,

A POOR ADAPTION

Frankly, I would have given this 0 stars but I'm trying to retain a sense of Christmas cheer. This really was dreadful. My 4 year old fell asleep and 6 year old (thankfully) asked to leave after 30 minutes. The initial excitement of being at the Theatre was knocked out of the kids after the first 5 minutes by the terrible costumes and the overly elaborate dialogue. The acting and the poorly targeted "in jokes" made me think that this was written (and acted) by a group of 18 year olds at drama school. It really is very very poor.

Tom Ringrose from Lincolnshire

TRULY AWFUL

Only 3 people played all the characters. The costumes were like budget versions purchased from Amazon - looked nothing like the Gruffalo, Gruffalo's Child or snake! There was around 4 songs, which were all terrible, along with the 'singing'. It was all far too quiet. Just a dreadful production all round, done on the cheap, fleecing the punters. Not what we expected from the West End. My local Lincolnshire village put on a production like this, and certainly put more effort into the scenery. Disappointing. Would definitely not recommend.

Beatrice Jones from London, England

DISAPPOINTED

Poorly cast, written and performed. Could hardly hear the dialogue Songs Immemorable. Over priced for spun out tale

Rhian Parry from Cardiff, wales

SO FAR FROM JULIA DONALDSON YOU’RE IN NARNIA

What a HUGE disappointment this show was. I went with my three year old who is obsessed with anything Gruffalo related but towards the end he kept saying he wanted to go home, lacked any interest after the initial excitement of the show starting. The story has truly been lost, the costumes totally non existent, three mediocre actors take part whom don’t seem to have any mic support as parts you could hardly hear. I’m not sure what I expected coming but a man in a suit jacket trying to convince small children he’s a snake isn’t it. Came across as very amateur and I wish I could get the £75 I paid for 3 of us back!!

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