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The Slightly Annoying Elephant review – beware of David Walliams's big blue bully

Little Angel theatre, London
A hard-to-stomach character with a horrible voice and a nasty catchphrase leaves little for kids to latch on to in this loud, brash production

There’s a buzz in the theatre and the children in the audience, including Ceci (aged three), hold their breath. When will the Slightly Annoying Elephant – pulled straight from David Walliams’s bestselling picture book – arrive in young Sam’s living room? The anticipation builds and – finally! – the elephant arrives. But let’s just name the elephant in the room, shall we? This one is a bit of a disappointment.

Just like Tony Ross’s original illustrations, the elephant in question is very bright and very blue. Ceci can just about handle that. In fact, the wacky colour choice makes her giggle. But there’s something about this elephant, designed with broad-brush sweeps by Ingrid Hu, that doesn’t convince. Crucially (and this will come as no great surprise), the elephant is really very big. Too big, perhaps, for the Little Angel theatre. As the elephant makes himself at home and takes a shower, watches TV and has a nap, bits of his body disappear. His ears detach and his body vanishes completely. It all feels a bit awkward and halts the imagination in its tracks – a suspicion confirmed when Ceci whispers to me: “That’s someone dressed up as an elephant!”

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from Culture | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WfiEKb
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