Seussical Jr Review

Reviewed by Zuzi Fort

What could be better than spending your Saturday afternoon relaxing in the company of your laughing kids? How about throwing in The Cat in a Hat and Horton the Elephant? Because that is precisely what you will get, and more, watching Lane Cove Theatre Company’s annual children’s production Seussical Jr.

Regardless if you are a Dr Seuss fan or not you’re sure to love the catchy tunes, the witty dialogue, the amusing rhyming and the many colourful characters that we come to expect from Dr Seuss. Local artistic legend Trent Gardiner directs this award-winning Broadway show with a spectacular cast of dedicated young performers. What they may lack in formal training they more than make up in sheer enthusiasm. Their contagious passion puts to shame a few professional companies with their bored artistic pretensions. Is it high art? Indeed not but is who needs velvet wallpaper and cushioned seats when you have fervour and the desire to share it.

Seussical Jr is a visual feast, an all-sensory experience as the plot unfolds and our heroes find themselves facing obstacles and challenges worthy of Hercules. Friendships are put to the test, loyalty questioned, dark schemes uncovered and love declared. All this unfolds before our eyes in an unpretentious hall in Lane Cove that has somehow been transformed into the world of wildest imagination.