A mum sitting next to me whispers to her child: “Don’t worry, the show hasn’t begun yet.” But it absolutely has. A dastardly troll is encouraging the young audience to shout out directions and gradually engage with the world on stage. Every beat has been carefully considered in Justin Audibert’s production of this musical for the over-threes. It’s a show that never appears to be trying too hard – yet holds the children captive right through to the final “bleat”.
The show is underpinned by a typically spry score from long-term collaborators George Stiles (music) and Anthony Drewe (book and lyrics). The goats are gifted plenty of suitably bouncy numbers, which deftly sketch out their different personalities: Sam Pay’s Big Goat is brave and eye-twinklingly mischievous, Samuel Tracy’s Middle Goat proves exceptionally light on his feet and Kanoumah Diguet’s Baby Goat is a little bit scared and awfully hungry.
In charge of this unruly gang of goats is Little Bo-Frilly (Tiajna Amayo), sister of the far more famous but equally hapless Little Bo Peep. Amayo is given a few belting solos with some full-throttle yodelling thrown in for good measure. But the very best song goes to Rhys Rusbatch’s wonderfully droll troll, who manages to be seriously quirky but – when the drama calls for it – a little bit frightening too. As he lurks under his rickety bridge, the troll sings a dark and brooding operatic number, which has just a whiff of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom to it.
Shannelle “Tali” Fergus’s choreography is full of personality and detail but effortless too, freeing the actors up to express themselves rather than pinning them down too tightly. James Button’s neon-rimmed set, with its looming rocky mountains and glowing green bridge, has a clean and effective design, which comes into its own in a seriously dramatic denouement, as the goats battle the troll one last time with the golden sun rising overhead. Sure, the story is still wafer thin. But with a production this fun and consistently engaging, you won’t hear me complaining.
At the Unicorn theatre, London, until 23 April
