The Enormous Crocodile: The Musical – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Picture: Danny Kaan

The Enormous Crocodile: The Musical continues at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London until 7 September 2025.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Roald Dahl’s short story The Enormous Crocodile is a beloved classic despite having originally been written for a younger audience than the rest of his oeuvre. The book tells the story of its brave protagonist leaving his swamp homeland and – undeterred by cruel comments and bullying from his jungle neighbours – searching for nothing more unreasonable than a humble meal. As his efforts are foiled again and again by other animals, he comes up with ever more “secret plans and clever tricks” to achieve his dream. Inspiring stuff.

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is the perfect location to stage this musical adaptation (book and lyrics by Suhayla El-Bushra and music by Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab). Not only do the surrounding trees and frequent wildlife flyovers make Fly Davis’ effective and ingenious jungle set come alive, but the audience of delicious and nutritious children surrounding the play’s hero seem to intensify his hunger and shoot a delightful tension through the crowd.

This isn’t to say the play is unduly scary, however. Despite the familiar darkness that permeates all Dahl’s work, children of every age delighted in this performance. Between Tim Minchin’s megahit Matilda and Dave Malloy’s recent acclaimed National Theatre production of The Witches, there is stiff competition in the world of Dahl stage adaptations. However, this piece carves out a distinct identity with its sillier tone and – most importantly – the fact it has a crocodile in it. A bloomin’ enormous one at that. Taya Ming delivers a stage-commanding performance as the titular creature with a strong singing voice and a charming menace as she surveys the appetising audience.

The five other performers in the ensemble (Ryan Crellin-Simpson, Nia Stephen, Eleanor Ambekar, Siobhan Athwal and Alison Arnopp) do a wonderful job of portraying the jungle’s other inhabitants, in addition to a troupe of mischievous Scouts.

Athwal in particular shines as Scout leader, while Arnopp’s Roly-Poly Bird is a fabulous, feathery delight. We are even given glimpses of some less enormous crocodiles, which was a particular delight for this reviewer – representation matters. The ensemble switch between Davis’ brilliant costumes smoothly and the relentless pace of the show is impressive for such a logistically demanding piece.

While not quite matching the incredible Matilda and The Witches in terms of transcendent musical genius, the score is big fun and thrills from the crocodile’s sharp teeth to the tip of his scaly tail. Many lyrics are quoted directly from Dahl’s work and the songs provide plenty of opportunities for clapping (and even singing) along. Particularly impressive is the use of incidental music to add atmosphere to scenes of dialogue.

Musical director Ben Kubiak sits to the side of the stage, masterfully performing the pieces on a keyboard, aided by pre-recorded backing tracks. Tom Gibbons’ sound design is particularly impressive, with a perfectly audible performance despite plenty of buzz from the young audience.

The story itself has been padded out beyond the short original book and 20-minute 1997 animation. More time is spent with the jungle’s lesser, non-crocodile animals as they introduce themselves and lament the respective character flaws that stop them standing up to our hero. The various settings of the original story have also been transposed to a jungle environment for understandable logistical reasons.

As a result, there is a somewhat slow pace and a hint of repetitiveness to the story, but with a running time of just an hour and plenty of audience interaction, nobody is bored. Director Emily Lim has crafted a lovely piece of kids’ entertainment here. The sight of young children enraptured by live musical theatre for the first time made my heart sing almost as much as it made my belly rumble. A delightful afternoon in the park for humans and reptiles alike. Now, time for supper.

Dr Croc O’Dile [aka Ian Bowkett]