Guest Review by Local York Mumbler, Ellen
The Story
Based on Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s bestselling sequel, Zog and the Flying Doctors follow Zog, a hilariously mild-mannered dragon, who is now a keen student turned air-ambulance helping his friends, Princess Pearl and Sir Gadabout. The flying doctor trio care for creatures including a mermaid, a unicorn and a sneezy lion. However when bad weather forces them to land at the palace, Princess Pearl is locked up by her uncle, the king. We were excited to see how Freckle Productions would bring this story to life on stage.
The Show
The show begins with Zog and the flying doctors in puppet form soaring through the sky before Zog himself appears! Archie thought he was amazing! The super talented cast of six entertained a theatre full of excited children for the next hour. The cast took on multiple roles and all had really impressive singing voices.
Credit: Mark Senior
The show is full of dancing, singing and clever puppetry. The story is quite fast paced although there is a good mix of upbeat and more reflective moments in the show when the lion, mermaid and the unicorn sing solos about their medical troubles. Audience participation is encouraged throughout and my son loved shouting at the pantomime style villain the King. The final song ‘If it wasn’t for you’ was a heart warming ending and celebrated the talents of the characters.
Just like Julia Donaldson’s story of The Smeds and The Smoos, which we were lucky enough to review early this year, this story too comes with a special message. In this case, that children can grow up to be whatever they want to be. We would really recommend this fantastic Freckle Productions of Zog and the Flying Doctors.
Useful Links & Information
Zog and the Flying Doctors have three performances at York Theatre Royal on Saturday 25th June at 11.00am, 2.00pm and 4.30pm. The show is approximately 1 hour long (no interval) Book your tickets here.
Find out everything that’s going on at York Theatre Royal in the coming months on their website.
For more Mumbler reviews of the shows and attractions in and around York visit the Mumbler Review section here.
Disclaimer: York Mumbler was given complimentary tickets for ‘Zog and the Flying Doctors’ at York Theatre Royal in exchange for an honest review.
