A new ‘mischievous’ musical, based on Roald Dahl’s classic children’s story The Enormous Crocodile, stops off in the Midlands this summer as part of a UK tour. With its fusion of puppetry and live music, the snappy tale of a very large reptile promises to delight younger audiences - as the show’s writer, Suhayla El-Bushra, recently explained to What’s On...

Roald Dahl’s enormous crocodile will be snapping at the heels of audiences across the region when the stage adaptation of the ever-popular children’s book - first published in 1978 - comes to local theatres in the summer.

Having premiered at Leeds Playhouse at Christmas 2023, then played Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in London, the hit show will be visiting venues in Shrewsbury, Coventry and Wolverhampton this June.

And writer Suhayla El-Bushra, who created the production’s book and lyrics, is looking forward to seeing more children enjoy the show: “Roald Dahl’s stories are full of drama, jeopardy and peril - that’s why they’re so popular. The Enormous Crocodile is the ultimate peril for its audience because it’s about a very big crocodile who wants to eat a child - and the whole audience is full of children.

“I used to read the book to my kids, and we all used to enjoy that very safe sense of danger. When I came to work on the show, I wanted to tap into that feeling of when you’re little and you want to be scared and you kind of enjoy the feeling of being scared but you also feel quite safe and held by that.”

The production, which brings together an impressive team of creatives, was an incredibly collaborative process, says Suhayla: “It took us about five years to write a musical version of the story with puppets. I was trying to write the story as it could be translated on stage, and it was hugely challenging in the most wonderful way.

“It’s a story that takes place in a jungle, with an enormous crocodile who plays lots of tricks by disguising himself, and who moves to lots of different places in the book. So there’s working out how to stage the story in itself, and then there’s the added layer of trying to turn this into song and lyrics and all the technical stuff that goes with that. And there was also this other factor to think about: what are the puppets going to be doing?”

To find an answer to that question, the team called on the expertise of leading puppet designer Toby Olié, whose previous work includes War Horse, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmatians at Regent’s Park, and Imperial Theatre Tokyo’s Spirited Away.

“We had lots of workshops where actors came in. Sometimes they were there specifically because they were brilliant singers and we were trying to work out the music. Or sometimes they were really excellent puppeteers, and we would sit and watch the puppets and how they were moving and how they would work. That would help give me a sense of their characters and the kind of things they would do and the lines they would say.

“We kept building up the show, layer by layer. We would all chip in and come together. It takes a long time, but it’s absolutely wonderful to be working with all these incredible brains from different areas.

“I think this happens with all musicals. You can’t just write it and hand it over to the next person to do their bit. It’s constantly putting it together, piece by piece. It’s like a game of Jenga, with ‘I’ll try this and then you try that and then I’ll try this’ and so on. And you’re always feeding off what the other creatives are bringing into the process.”

The music team of Suhayla, Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab and Tom Brady have worked together to ensure that the songs not only take the story forward but are also lots of fun for small children.

“Ahmed and I had never written a musical before. Tom was there to oversee and play a part in helping us construct the songs so that they told a story. When you’re writing for a young audience, there has to be a simplicity to the songs - but that doesn’t mean that they can’t also be really complex and challenging.”

The team, who were also working with the Roald Dahl Story Company, were determined that no corners would be cut just because The Enormous Crocodile was aimed at children.

“The absolute driving force throughout the whole process, from the very beginning, was that we had to treat it as seriously as we would a play for adults. The bottom line was always that we would challenge every idea that we had and ensure that everything was the absolute best that it could be.

“In fact, I kind of joked that I spent more time trying to work out the character of this enormous crocodile than I have on any other character I’ve written!”

The production is aimed at children aged three and above. Suhayla says audiences have been captivated: “There’s something in this show for all the family. I know it’s for small kids, but like all of Dahl’s books, there’s also incredible wit and humour to the story. And this is a really imaginative production - the design and puppets are wonderful, and I think people of all ages will enjoy it. It’s got great tunes, brilliant performances and lots of opportunities for the audiences to get involved.

“Watching the show - especially when we’ve done it with schools, where the audience has been almost entirely made up of children - it’s just been wonderful to see the way [kids] respond to it. We want them to have a good time and have fun, and you can see that they do.

“The audience are a key part of the show; it only half exists until they come along. It’s about a crocodile who wants to eat a child, so they’re already involved in the story. We’ve leant into that in the production, and the children are encouraged to take part at various points.”

Suhayla hopes the show will spark a lifelong love of live stagework for those who go to see it: “Children are a really important audience, and they deserve good-quality theatre. For a lot of kids, this show is their very first experience of going to the theatre. There’s a huge amount of responsibility that comes with that. You want them to enjoy it, and for it to be really magical, and for them to want to come back. They are the future theatre makers, because we can all remember the first experience that we had when we were young and thinking ‘I want to do that,’ whether that was being on stage or wanting to be the person who writes.”

The Enormous Crocodile stops off at Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn from Thursday 4 to Sunday 7 June, the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, from Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 June, and the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, from Thursday 18 to Sunday 21 June.

By Diane Parkes