Award-winning kids show back for more

The winner of the Sydney Theatre Awards for Best Children’s Production for 2009 is back by popular demand, with seasons at the Seymour Centre and Riverside Theatres in Sydney before it heads to Melbourne.

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is one of the most popular story books in the world. London’s Tall Stories Theatre Company adapted the award winning picture book published by Macmillan Children’s Books into a live musical play which has played to West End and Broadway sell-out seasons.

Christine Dunstan Productions toured a local cast across NSW and ACT during 2009, the reaction was astounding, and it’s now back for a nation-wide tour. Audiences and critics alike are taken with the magic of this exuberant and funny show.

The Gruffalo follows Mouse into the deep dark wood on a lunchtime hunt for hazelnuts. Armed with just a nut map and a very vivid imagination, Mouse runs into the smirking, wheeler-dealer Fox; an eccentric, retired Woodland Air Force General Owl; and the maraca-shaking, party animal Snake. Rather than becoming the main course of their next meal, Mouse kills their appetites with stories of an imaginary monster friend. Little does this clever critter know but Mouse will have to escape the jaws of this faux protector as well.

Whether their favourite food is roasted fox, owl ice cream, scrambled snake or Gruffalo crumble, audiences eat up this delectable tale about the adventures of a clever little mouse in a forest full of predators.

Your imagination will run wild with colourful characters, toe tapping sing-along songs, laughs and fun for children aged 3 and up, and their adults.

THE GRUFFALO SEASON INFORMATION

SEYMOUR CENTRE
Venue:   Everest Theatre, Seymour Centre, Chippendale
Season:  28 June – 10 July
Performance times:  Tuesday – Friday 10am & 12 noon, Saturday 10am, 12 noon, & 3pm
Extra shows Monday 28th 1.30pm and Wednesday 7th 3pm
Price:   All tickets $25, Groups 6+ $20, schools discounts available
Bookings:   9351 7940 or seymourcentre.com.au or ticketmaster.com.au

PARRAMATTA
Venue:   Riverside Theatres, Parramatta
Season:  30-31 August
Performance times: Monday 10.30am & 12 noon; Tuesday 10am and 12 noon
Price:   All tickets $25, Groups 6+ $20, schools discounts available
Bookings:   8839 3399 or riversideparramatta.com.au

MELBOURNE
Venue: National Theatre, 20 Carlisle St (cnr Barkly St), St Kilda
Season: 20 – 30 July 2010
Performance times:  Monday – Saturday 10am & 12 noon, plus 1.30pm Tues 20, Wed 21, Mon 26 and Wed 28, and 3pm Sat 24 July
Bookings: 136 100 or ticketmaster.com.au