Julia Donaldson’s award-winning children’s books seem the perfect stories to be adapted for the stage and ‘Zog and the Flying Doctors’ is the latest to embark on a national tour.

The producers, Freckle Productions, always appear a class above the rest. I was lucky enough to see their London run of ‘Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales’ a couple of years ago and it was honestly one of the best pieces of children’s theatre I’ve ever seen. And I’ve watched a lot!

They’ve hit gold again here with another energetic, slick and overall magnificent production. The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford was swarming with animated children of all ages (and the parents seemed rather excited too!)

It’s a musical journey with some nice morals thrown in and the entire audience were captivated for the whole sixty minutes. The five strong company gave fantastic performances throughout, multi-roling through fast-changing scenes and characters. Disappointingly, there were no programmes or even cast lists available which was a real shame.

The direction from Katie Beard and Bobby Delaney is clean and polished with wonderfully vibrant choreography from Beard too. The show is full of original songs and there are some nice moments of audience participation in which children are invited to learn dance moves and shout various phrases. There’s comic moments aplenty, some especially for the adults – a notable highlight being a glitter-clad unicorn in heels giving his disco solo. Upset that he has an extra horn, he calls the NHS – National Horn Service. Brilliantly written and exquisitely delivered.

It’s a faultless piece and a wonderful way to introduce young people to the theatre. Freckle Productions remain the champions of fresh, exciting and highly creative children’s theatre.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️