If there’s one thing Mei loves more than princess stories, it is fairytales. Both my children do, actually. They have grown up with fairy tales as staples in our book collection, from simple touch & feel editions for the littlest ones to longer ladybird classics for children. We are still waiting for them to be old enough for the darker, original versions. The ladybird classics are Mei’s favourite and every day she would grab one (usually more than one, actually) of these books, shove it under my nose and demand: READ!
So I knew she was going to love The Three Billy Goats Gruff, the latest musical by SRT’s The Little Company. What I didn’t anticipate was how much I was going to love it too. After we were given a little preview, I told my husband he had to to come along with us for the show. He usually isn’t a fan of kiddy performances but I knew he’d appreciate this one. Here’s why:
1. The great, toe-tapping music
The strength of a musical rides primarily on its music. The tunes in this musical are wonderful, catchy pieces we were humming for days after the show. I shouldn’t have been surprised, given that they were written by the multi-talented award-winning duo George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. A short medley of tunes plays before the performance starts and I caught Noey bopping along excitedly to the beat. I too found myself moving to the music during the show. It was hard not to, especially when the goats were tripp-trapping across the stage in their song and dance routines. To this day, Mei still breaks out singing “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence!” every once in a while. “We’re Big, Middle and Baby, we’re the Billy Goats Gruff!” was also playing in my head for days.
2. The witty (and educational!) screenplay
It’s always great when you can learn a thing or two while being entertained. My kids now know that goats are browsers. They are not grazers like cows, but they also have four stomachs. They were both also not familiar with the idiom “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence”, but this show gave me a good opportunity to explain it to them, and also educate them on the truth of that phrase. There were many clever turns of phrase that had my husband and I catching each other’s eye and laughing though I’m sure it went over the heads of the kids.
3. There was a good lesson to be learnt
Parents love a story with a good moral lesson to be learnt. In this case, this is a great cautionary tale of how the grass is NOT always greener on the other side of the fence, both literally and figuratively. The message was rather that you should be content with what you have, which is as important a lesson to learn as any. I was pleased that Noey understood and was able to tell me this after the show. Mei needed a bit more explanations to get her there but I believe she got it in the end too.
4. It was a creative spin on an old favourite
The great thing about fairy tales is that everyone already knows the stories. Because it was a familiar story, it was easy for the children, even the little ones, to follow the story. But this wasn’t just a plain re-telling of the story, of course. While the main story line stayed the same, there were changes made to make it more interesting and keep the audience guessing. Why was the grass across the bridge greener? How did Big Billy Goat defeat the troll in the end? You’ll have to watch the show to find out!
5. It was just a lot of fun to watch
While watching the show I definitely thought that the actors did an incredible job. The goats had to act, sing, AND tap-dance, which I thought was no mean feat. That tip-tap tripp-trapping sound was just perfect for the show, and such a happy sound too, don’t you think? We all had our favourite characters. Noey liked the goats, Mei loved pink Little Bo Frilly (but of course) but the husband and I both really liked the troll. Mei was rather scared of him and jumped into my lap on his appearance, but the husband and I found him funny and grizzly in an understated gruff way. In fact, Benjamin Chow who plays the role of the troll and Mr Bo (Little Bo Frilly’s dad) did such a good job that I didn’t realise that he played both roles till I studied my programme booklet after the show. With all the singing and dancing on stage, and all the laughing on our end, it was just a lot of fun.
It isn’t often that a performance which is aimed at children captivates my attention. The Three Billy Goats Gruff is one of those rare performances that manages to strike a note with adults and children alike. Do yourselves a favour and don’t miss it!
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Ticketing and Show Information
Season: 2 Apr to 10 May 2015
Venue: DBS Arts Centre — Home of SRT
Performance Times: 10am (Mon to Fri), 11am and 2pm (Sat and Sun)
Ticket Prices: $25, $22 (Weekdays), $35, 32 (Weekends). Buy a Season Pass to THREE shows and save 20%!
Duration: About 50 mins
Booking: At Sistic counters, at sistic.com.sg or by calling 6348-5555
*We were provided tickets to the show for the purpose of this review. All opinions remain my own. All photos used in this post were provided by the Singapore Repertory Theatre.
Leave a Reply