Time Out has given The Smartest Giant in Town 4 starts.
The Little Angel is the first of London’s kids’ theatres to reopen, and to this weary parent, it feels like Islington’s puppet paradise has never been away.
Aimed at ages three-to-eight, ‘The Smartest Giant in Town’ reunites a whole host of familiar Angel faces: songwriter Barb Jungr; theatre boss Samantha Lane, who adapts and directs; and above all the mighty Julia Donaldson, whose percussively rhythmic picture books – often, as here, illustrated by Axel Scheffler – have provided the source material for numerous shows at this address over the years.
★★★★
Gorgeous-looking and super-fun kids’ adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s picture book
If you’re not familiar, ‘The Smartest Giant…’ is set in a charming world in which humans, giants and talking bipedal animals all live together harmoniously. The story concerns a scruffy giant named George (Duane Gooden wearing a big giant head), who shambles around in a robe and sandals until one fateful day he sees the local clothes shop has some natty new giant clothes in stock. He gets a power makeover – but a series of encounters with unfortunate animals lead to him kindly giving away his new purchases to those less fortunate, eg he gives his tie away to a giraffe with a cold neck, so it can use it as a scarf.
