Rosie and Hugh's Great Big Adventure on the importance of children's theatre

The baby’s done a poo, the baby’s done a poo –‘

“But why?” I interrupt, as five actors belt out one of Nick Cope’s best known songs. “Dramaturgically speaking, why do we need to know the baby has done a poo now?”. Ria Parry, our director ponders the question. She agrees, “yeah, what’s the motivation?”.

This is how we spend the best part of an afternoon making Rosie and Hugh’s Great Big Adventure – and it’s why I love working in children’s theatre. I’m not being facetious: weaving together Nick Cope’s incredible songs into a tale that is both moving and funny is as intellectually and emotionally rewarding as any of the West End or Broadway-bound projects I’ve worked on.

Rosie and Hugh's Great Big Adventure

Why? Because there’s no pretence in children’s theatre. For starters, children are the toughest audience. They’re brutally honest and will immediately let you know if they’re bored or confused. You have to condense big themes and ideas into something that is digestible, and sometimes even silly, but still has meaning. And you have to do it all in under an hour, as well as writing a show that will keep the adults entertained. And that can be equally as hard as writing a five-act tragedy.

I know Nick approaches his songwriting in the same way. “I will go to great lengths to search for an original idea, hopefully something that is important or interesting to both children and their families - and then I try to put it in the catchiest, poptastic song I possibly can! I think the children really appreciate something that is well crafted and are more engaged as a result; it is a big mistake to dumb things down.”

And while children may be a tough audience – they’re also the best. Watching the pre-schoolers from Little Monkey Nursery gasp, laugh and gleefully clap along to Rosie & Hugh’s Great Big Adventure means more to me than any five-star review ever will (though that would be nice too!). Composer Howard Goodall once told me that he gets just as much joy from watching a local school put on one of his shows as a West End production. I never really got what he meant, until now.

Teachers and parents have told us that children have been talking about the show for days afterwards, and wanting to come back. This means so much to us, because we want its ideas, its songs, and its story to resonate with them. One of the show’s central themes is about worrying that you’re different, that you don’t fit in. Without giving away too many spoilers, our heroine, Rosie, is nervous about starting a new school. She’s anxious she won’t make any friends. But over the course of the show she meets all sorts of wonderful wacky people, animals, and a very rusty robot, who celebrate and embrace their uniqueness. Rosie learns that our differences are what make us so very special.

The song, ‘Little Grey Cloud’ is the heart of our show and embodies this message. At the suggestion of producer David Luff, it was the first of Nick’s songs that I ever heard. I was blown away. It has soul, it has ache, but at the same time is uplifting and inspiring. The chorus says: ‘All the children they just wanna be free, free to be who they wanna be, and to all the people who disagree, can you tell me: why you wanna live under a little grey cloud when you can live under a rainbow?’

If we can instil this message of acceptance, joy, and difference through our show, well, wouldn’t the world be a better place? That’s what story-telling can do, if it becomes part of children’s lives. I truly believe theatre, especially musical theatre, has the power to shape minds and grow hearts. We’ve all read about the cuts to arts education and culture in schools - and with the tinderbox of a world we seem to be living in at the moment, a show which encourages us to embrace our differences and believe in who we are feels more important than ever.

Dismiss children’s theatre at your peril. I hope you can come along and see our big-hearted show at The Pleasance, Beyond. Yes, it’s for the children. But it’s for us too.

Victoria Saxton is a writer and dramaturg.

https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/rosie-and-hughs-great-big-adventure

Rosie & Hugh’s Great Big Adventure is on the Pleasance, Beyond until August 18th.

Then at Soho Theatre, London from August 22nd-25th.