Seussical is a charming and slick children’s show, full of entertainment for all ages and much more desirable than your average Christmas-time entertainment. Following Horton the Elephant (ITV Superstar’s David Hunter) through a series of interlinked Dr. Seuss stories, Seussical is a fun-filled 80 minutes about, amongst other things, looking out for the little things which, although not immediately noticeable, are just as important.
The script, by Tony award-winning writers Ahrns and Flaherty along with Eric Idle, is a slightly confusing but ultimately jolly jog through stories of concerned elephants, birds with only one tail-feather, show-girl beasts, grumpy marsupials and bullying monkeys. The youthful but professional cast glide between transitions with precision, and all of the songs are sung with an infectious energy. There are moments when you aren’t quite sure what exactly is going on – and the children are not afraid to shout “Mum, who are THEY?” at every opportunity – but making sense of the wandering narrative contributes to the overall sense of gleeful enjoyment.
The production team has stuck with simplicity as regards the set – and so much the better - choosing to rely on the audience’s imaginative faculties on more than one occasion. In fact, the sections where the tech was slightly more complicated -particularly with regards to the lighting in the opening sequence - were less powerful than those that remained uncluttered.
There are no irritating calls of “he’s behind you”, and Dr. Seuss’s moral epicentre throbs through the lyrics and the spoken verse, leaving you (and your children) with an adorable alternative to the Christmas panto: a reasonably priced, genuinely joyful and principled production.
