The Enormous Crocodile by the Roald Dahl Story Company is adapted from Dahl’s 1978 book about a greedy crocodile that wants to eat children. This gigantic creature is rumbling through the jungle, looking for its prey. But it really doesn’t seem like an evil monster as it’s played with whimsy by Chelsea Da Silva, so no fears about kids in the audience being terrified. Children in the audience love the Enormous Crocodile and so do adults.
The other animals in the jungle keep the Croc from gobbling its dinner and they sing and dance their way through 18 songs in this 60-minute show. The other featured puppets are Precious Abimbola as Trunky the Elephant, Jordan Eskeisa as Humpy Rumpy the Hippopotamus, Marienella Phillips as Muggle Wump the Monkey, Ciara Hudson as Roly Poly Bird, and René Francalanza as Swing. Three more puppeteers play the children, wearing their kid costumes like bibs and kneeling to kiddie height.
The puppetry style is a cross between performance and puppetry; the puppeteers are also singers and dancers. The puppet designers integrate the performer's body into the animal's body. The Crocodile puppet is a "Crocmobile." The actor sits in the Croc's body like a go-kart; their legs are the Croc's front legs. (Puppeteers who manipulate large puppets are typically dressed in black and blend into the background.) You can watch a short video about the puppetry creation with Toby Olié, puppetry designer and co-director.
The Enormous Crocodile musical was developed by Roald Dahl Story Company, Emily Lim (director), Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab (composer), Suhayla El-Bushra (book and lyrics), and Tom Brady (additional music and lyrics and music supervisor). Daisy Beattie is puppetry co-designer. Fly Davis is set and costume designer. Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu is choreographer.
This all-ages production made its US premiere as part of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival and continues through February 21 at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave. Tickets and more information available here.
For more information on this and other productions, see theatreinchicago.com.
Did you enjoy this post? Please consider supporting Third Coast Review’s arts and culture coverage by making a donation. Choose the amount that works best for you, and know how much we appreciate your support!
