Penned by Rod Cambell, Dear Zoo has been entertaining young readers since it was first published in the 1980s. The lift-the-flap book the play was taken from has transferred perfectly to the stage.
The concept is great and so endearing. Young Ben writes to the zoo for a pet. He meets up with his friend Sally, and together they post the letter to the zoo.
We meet zookeeper Sam who drives his truck to deliver several animals from the zoo to Ben. They get sent back for various reasons – too tall, too big, too fierce – except the last one.
Although this wasn’t the relaxed performance (RP) of the show, we took the opportunity of downloading the RP guide from the Curve website, which is freely available to anyone. This helped Poppy to familiarise herself with the story and know when to expect any loud noises, which she was prepared for with her ear defenders.
All of the sensory moments were highlighted in the RP guide, which was really useful as a check just prior to going to watch the show.
With it being a younger audience, I was not sure whether the story would capture Poppy’s interest. However, I did not need to worry, she was fully engaged with it, and thoroughly enjoyed herself, joining in with the songs, shouting out, making herself as tall as a giraffe and pretending to be a frog!
The cast were perfect for this show – energetic, curious, keeping the audience engaged at all times. Poppy particularly liked Sam the zookeeper as he had ‘Zoo’ written on his hat
The staging of this was ingenious. Each animal came in its own different coloured crate or basket, which looked just like the lift-the-flap versions. Each crate had a “From The Zoo” tag on it, and Poppy really liked the consistency of this. She also enjoyed the repetition of some of the lines, and the routine of receiving an animal, assessing it, then sending it back, this really held her interest.
Poppy really warmed to the puppets – especially the snake, which caused lots of giggles, and the frog. She said overall her favourite bit was the red crate, with the lion in and “Danger!” written across it. She also loved doing several loud roars too!
The show was 55 minutes long without a break, which seemed just right for the mix of ages coming to watch it. This is the perfect half term treat for children of all ages.
★★★★
Dear Zoo is at Curve until Saturday June 1. Tickets £10-£17.
Age Guidance: 1+. Running Time: 55 minutes, with no interval
Relaxed Performance: Sat 1 Jun, 10.30am
