The Gruffalo - The Mayflower, Southampton (From Daily Echo)

The Gruffalo - The Mayflower, Southampton

5:21pm Thursday 31st May 2012 in Stage Reviews By Lee Jeffery

IF YOU go down to the woods today... oops, that’s the wrong one isn’t it?

But if you do go down to The Mayflower today, you are sure to be in for a treat.

Children’s classic The Gruffalo has been a staple diet for bedtime stories in our house for quite some time.

Then came the short films and DVDs.

The stage show has a lot to live up to in the eyes of my four-year-old son, and it didn’t disappoint.

The show added songs to help enhance the experience and lots of funny moments that had young children right through to the adults laughing along all the way until the end.

Plenty of audience participation kept the youngsters’ eyes glued to the stage to see what was going to happen next.

The performers could not replicate the visual feast of the DVD but they more than made up for it with boundless energy and enthusiasm, and there was never a dull moment.

And at around 45 minutes’ long even the shortest attention span of those toddlers present did not waver.

All in all, a must for any Gruffalo fan, young or old.