Stiles and Drewe’s ”The Three Billy Goats Gruff” at Unicorn Theatre review – ‘awash with toe-tappers’

Stiles and Drewe are past masters when it comes to musicals for children, with previous examples including The Wind in the Willows, Honk! and The Three Little Pigs. So I was delighted to have the opportunity to take my youngest, aged three, to this new take on The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

Directed by Justin Audibert, soon to depart the Unicorn to take stewardship of Chichester Festival Theatre, it proves a pretty faithful reimagining of the popular Norwegian fable. The one major plot addition is the character of Little Bo-Frilly, sister of the better known Peep, who is the goats’ herder and keen to prove to her father that she can handle the responsibility.

Naturally, Bo-Frilly’s ambition is tested when the goats persuade her to allow them to attempt to cross the troll-guarded bridge to reach the greener grass on the other side. The troll himself, who we first meet during some pre-show shenanigans, turns out to have painted the grass himself as an entrapment, but he hasn’t reckoned with the cunning of the bearded trio.

The score, as one might expect from this duo, is awash with toe-tappers, notably the opening song where the three goats introduce themselves as Baby, Middle and Big in fine, rhyme-spitting style. It’s great fun and immediately gets the little ones on side, as does some good old ‘it’s behind you’ action when Bo-Frilly first appears having once again lost her charges.

Although at times it feels a little over-padded, when the padding is this tuneful it seems churlish to complain. The five-strong cast give it an impressive amount of welly considering they’re mostly clad head-to-toe in knitwear or, in the case of Rhys Rusbatch’s troll, a fat suit. Kanoumah Diguet, Samuel Tracy and Sam Pay make a lovable goat trio (hill-billies?), while Tiajna Amayo brings a boisterous energy as Bo-Frilly.

James Button’s designs feature mountains illuminated with LED strips, nicely echoing the blend of ancient and modern that underscores the show. And all that knitwear – the goats look like models from a 70s jumper catalogue – creates a cosy nordic vibe. It’s 50 minutes of fun for the kid in all of us.