...playfulness and theatricality used to transform moments is done effortlessly which proves to be an absolute delight for the vocal audience

Grug Live draws content from half a dozen Grug books by Ted Prior. The audience is introduced to Grug; we find out about how he came into the world from the top of a Burrawong tree, watch him work his garden, fish, find the big red apple, we learn the Grug dance, watch him play soccer and have a birthday party with friends.

The production includes Jude Henshall, Nathan O’Keefe and Lucas Stibbard as performers narrating the story, puppeteering and animating moments of beautiful theatrical illusion.

The engaging puppets, crafted by Tamara Rewse, include amongst others, Grug and his friend Cara the carpet snake. The puppets are reproductions of the books’ characters in three dimensional action and Grug quite literally springs to life from the page to the stage.

Grug is lively theatre for 1-5 year olds with action, physicality and marvelous reveals which thoroughly appeal to the humour of the young audience; we see the inside of Grug’s very neat burrow, vegetables and flowers spring up and disappear and contents of numerous parcels miraculously change from one thing to another. The cast and director, Sam Haren, obviously had fun playing with the idea of disappearance and reappearance with Haren showing an innate feel for what appeals to young audiences when it comes to images, objects and characters vanishing and returning, sometimes changed and sometimes not.

The work leads the audience through a neat narrative arc with the performers introducing themselves and putting on an album before introducing Grug, his home and the fact he likes receiving mail. Nathan is entrusted with the task of delivering parcels which include items of necessity through to fun, from seedlings for the vegetable garden to dance music. The final parcel received, a surprise parcel, is a birthday present. It is the party that concludes the end of the show in parallel with (and perhaps surfeit to requirements) the album also coming to an end.

Prior’s content offers positive role modeling to the young audience with Grug depicted as an endearing character who quietly goes about his daily business with a sense of perception, investigation, determination, inventiveness, fun and celebration. He is a friendly, honest, unassuming little character. These themes are delightfully described through the story and skillfully depicted theatricality. Moments of perception are presented when Grug stays up one night to find who has eaten his cabbages to discover the silvery trail of a snail. His solution is to replant his garden. Determination is illustrated through his unsuccessful fishing trip which is followed by finding an apple for dinner. He invents his own dance, has fun with his friends and celebrates his birthday.

Grug and his friends’ inventiveness is the highlight of the show. There are glorious reveals and transitions as cake and a nut transform to dirt and a seed for Grug’s garden, to mention just one example. The young audience takes particular pleasure in O’Keefe’s physicality as he heaves a heavy box, is thrown about by a bouncing parcel and leaps and disappears. Jude’s voice doesn’t always carry above the excited babble of the young audience, particularly when she is working from the back of the set. As an ensemble the performers, on the whole, embody effortless fun and liveliness.

Jonathon Oxlade’s set adds to the liveliness. A cross section of a grassy hill, the set reveals all manner of surprises; the cosy insides of Grug’s home, a fish and crab in the fishing hole, a worm that emerges from the earth, an apple that expands to gigantic proportions, which is then demolished by a hungry Grug. The list of magical moments the creative team has generated could go on. Also contributing to the magic is Ben Snodgrass’ lighting which has a gentle rhythmic aspect echoing Grug’s daily routine, shifting action from day to night and back. Tyson Hopprich’s composition has a similar vibe, gently moving in and out of the action.

The playfulness and theatricality used to transform moments is done effortlessly which proves to be an absolute delight for the vocal audience as they gasp and question and discuss throughout the show. Windmill performances give audiences a clear sense of story making and Grug Live is no exception to this. It is done in such a way that the audience is invited in to storytelling and shown how the story will unfold but always holds back a little magic to surprise. One older audience member acknowledges toward the end of the show, having witnessed parcels being given to Grug “There are two more parcels to go.” It empowers the storyteller in the child without denying them the wonder; a totally satisfying mix for all involved.

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