Our partner schools sent some of their finest Theatre Ambassadors to review The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Here’s what they made of the show…
The Boy Who Cried Wolf was amazing. My favourite bit was when they started singing in a sheep way. It was very funny. I also liked it when they boy’s mother won the Christmas jumper competition. It was the most amazing play in the world. I would recommend that you should watch it and if you have children you should take them. I rate it 5 stars!
Grace, Year 5
When I went to the York Theatre Royal to watch this play, I had no idea of what awaited me. As the production began, I was amazed that only three actors could provide a play which met all my standards for a high quality production. Complete with unique songs and an amazing script, this reimagining of the classic tale is a great way to spend your Friday afternoon. I give the play 5 stars!
Ty, Year 6
You must go and see The Boy Who Cried Wolf, it is brilliant. My favourite part was the end with all the Christmas lights and dancing. The three actors were talented, kind and had amazing voices. I liked the costumes and props. Thank you York Theatre Royal for everything.
Ariana, Year 3
I really enjoyed the show! My favourite part was when the sheep were singing their song because they were so funny. I loved the acting and the songs.
Jack, Year 4
The play is about a boy called Silas and his mum and grandpa who all lived in a small village. Every year they had a knitting competition. Silas’s mum always won the competition. Silas’s grandpa wanted him to be a shepherd because he grew too old and too tired. So the next day, when Silas went out to the field to take care of the sheep his grandpa said “if there is a wolf, shout WOLF and we’ll come rushing after you”. So when Silas was all alone with just sheep to keep him company, he got bored and shouted “WOLF”. When grandpa came to help, there wasn’t any wolf. Silas said that the wolf just left, but grandpa didn’t believe him and went back to bed. The next morning Silas went back to the hill; whilst he was sitting at the top of the hill with the sheep all the villagers gathered in the village hall for the knitting competition. Silas tried to shout “WOOL” in happiness, thinking that his mum had won when he accidentally shouted “WOLF” and his grandpa and mum came rushing up the hill again, but one more time there wasn’t a wolf around. Silas’s mum and grandpa were disappointed and went back to the village hall to celebrate. The next morning yet again Silas had to go to the top of the hill with the sheep and a couple of hours later he saw something move in the trees; then he saw it again and he yelled “WOLF”, but no one came, he yelled again and again, but there was no hope; he tried to stay as still as possible he decided to shout at the wolf and with his shouting the wolf had run away in fear.
It is a moral tale about growing up and taking responsibility for your actions.
There were only 3 actors in the play; it was amazing, because there were lots of characters in the story. The acting was magnificent! Many parts were extremely funny, especially the rapping sheep. The actors were great, because I thought that there were more than three people initially because of all the different voices. The actors were even playing fantastic musical instruments, such as the saxophone, the oboe and the guitar whilst dancing and jumping around the place! I think the play should be for 4+
I would rate this play 9/10
Oliver, Year 6
The play is about the boy who cried wolf.
The acting was really funny because they were doing silly dancing and things. All the scenery was knitted. The costumes were like people in Iceland. I found the music very funny. The lighting went colourful when it was happy and red when it was scary. The snow was a special effect because it looks like it falling snow.
I think the play is suitable for age 4+ because there were some scary bits for younger people.
I would rate this play 2½ stars out of 3.
Yusuf, Year 3
I loved it. The play was recommended for 3+ but it was quite noisy so I would recommend for 4-6 year olds. I loved how they made a classic story into something funny. I loved the props, I also loved how friendly the actors were.
I would rate it 10/10
Alex, Year 5
The play was about the boy who cried wolf. The acting was very good. I was actually scared of the wolves! By the way that’s a good thing. I like the way they made the lights red when the wolves came. I think the play is suitable for age 4+.
I rate this play 5 Stars out of 5
Isla, Year 4
The play is about a young boy called Silas who lives in a small village with his mother and grandfather. Part of his duties to help his family is to herd the sheep and keep the wolves away from them. Silas has a problem though – he does not like doing this and tries anything to get out of doing his work – including lying! This landed him in a lot of trouble.
Acting: There were 3 actors who took the parts of all the characters including the villagers, narrators and the sheep. The actors were very funny. My favourite characters were the sheep because they would rap and dance amazingly. The actors were very friendly and would interact with the audience.
Scenery: The scenery was perfect for the play because it would fit in with the story at all the points. There were trees with knitted decorations on there and lights as well that would represent the moonlight.
Costumes: Silas’ mother swapped between the different characters by swapping her headband with another accessory which was sometimes quite hard to work out who she was playing. The outfit that Silas was wearing worked with all the characters he was playing, it had an old feel to it which fitted with the era of the story.
Music: The musical instruments were played by the actors; saxophone, flute, oboe and guitar. The songs fitted perfectly in the play and the sound effects were really well done. I think that instead of repeating the same song a few times that they could have done more tunes / songs as well.
Lighting: The only lighting effect was when it became night and day but that was still really good.
Special effects: There wasn’t really any special effects and I think that if there were it would help the mood of the story.
I believe the play was suitable for 3-7 year olds. I enjoyed watching it but feel I was probably too old.
I would rate this play 4 stars out of 5
Martha, Year 6
This play is about a little boy who lied about wolves coming to attack the village while he had to protect the sheep.
It is very nice to see people are celebrating no lying. I really like how they use objects they knitted and cut out from cardboard for the background. I think they knitted all of it. I think they knitted the costumes.
The music was very funny they sometimes play instruments. Every single time a wolf came the lights turned red. The special effects were people throwing fake snow. I think people who like knitting or weaving will like this play. I recommend this play for 3 and up.
I think I would rate this play a ten out of ten.
Seyana, Year 3
I think that the play was very good. It was very funny yet had some certain aspects of seriousness to it, if it needed to. It was very silly, yet had a delicate balance. The cast were brilliant and had a great way of transitioning from scene to scene. It was obvious that they all got along well and had a nice friendship. The songs were all spectacular and always put a smile on your face. It was extremely clever the way the songs were done to include the instruments that the cast played. It is not scary, and the wolves are just portrayed as these sad, hungry animals looking for food. The use of props is marvellous and you never get bored. The way the costumes are done are great because they really fit with the characters in their own fun mischievous way. When I talked to the cast afterwards it was clear that they knew what they were doing and knew the entire backstory of each one of their characters. As a whole it was an incredible play, fit for ages and thoroughly enjoyable. I would definitely recommend it.
I would give the play 5 stars out of 5
Beatrice, Year 5
The play was about a boy who shouted for help when he didn’t need it. When he did need help nobody believed him so nobody came.
Acting – Good, maybe a bit more dance
Scenery – Some mountains and a board with lights on
Costumes – They changed costumes on the stage, maybe in the wings.
Music – Good
Lighting – Always on and pretty
I think the play is for age 5+
I would rate this play 5 stars out of 5
I would like to see it again.
Jacob, Year 4
I really enjoyed The Boy Who Cried Wolf. It was a hilarious, fun and enjoyable production.
When we entered the studio theatre the actors were already dressed, in character and out on the seating, so as soon as we walked in we were greeted with a very warm and friendly welcome.
The play was very musical and full of songs which was something that made the play better. The actors who played the roles had to play numerous characters such as: Silas, mum, grandad, sheep and narrators. Yet somehow they managed very well to play all their characters, since there was only 3 of them, and everything worked out perfectly. I do think that all 3 actors were very talented though.
My favourite characters were the sheep as they were extremely funny, and would give any child a bit of laugh. All in all, I would say an amazing production, but I think the main age group for this play is 3-6 years old. I would recommend this play to families with young children but not children under 2 as there is a lot of noise and different lighting. I would also recommend it to people who want a little bit of a laugh.
Aleena, Year 6
This a fantastic production put on at the York Theatre Royal. It is based around the book The Boy Who Cried Wolf, but the producers have interpreted it in their own way. The way that the actors changed from one person to another and managed to maintain their different characters and accents was brilliant. I also thought the way that they used only one or two props to symbolise the different characters they played was a very effective way of showing the different people/animals without confusing the audience. There were also only three actors, but they made you feel like there were more than just the three of them. An added factor to this great play was that they all played their instruments on stage and when they danced, they interacted with the audience too. This was an amazing production suitable for all ages. I thought this was very enjoyable and funny and would definitely recommend it to others especially to a younger audience.
Matilda, Year 7
The lighting and actions of the actors set the scene perfectly. It was outstanding and I was laughing before it even began because of the actors coming to speak to us and chat and it was weird so it made me laugh. My least favourite part of the play was that they took away the moral of the story, instead of the boy being eaten he scared away the wolf, usually the boy would lie and lie and lie until the wolf actually came and he’d be eaten. My favourite part was the sheep scenes, I think most people said that too. Also it was cool music and funny dance moves but there were too many Fortnite dances in there for my liking (because I’m not a fan of Fortnite).
What I learned:
I learnt that it is not so bad when you talk to people instead of ignoring them because it must have been awkward for the actors to come out and meet us before the show, but they didn’t seem to feel awkward, it was as if they liked talking to us about mittens and scarves.
Finlay, Year 8
Wendy Harris has done an excellent job, turning this classic fable into an all singing, all dancing, all knitting production.
This story is based around a fable with a very strong moral; nobody believes a liar even when he is telling the truth. She has made this funny and appealing for small children with a relatable side for older children and grown-ups. The three actors: Alex Wingfield, Florence Russell and Guido Garcia Lueches are all very talented and the lighting and sound also add to the magic.
Bella, Year 8
This play is very interesting in the way that the stage is set. The stage is surrounded by viewers on 3 sides (like a peninsula). The other thing I really like about this play is that all the scenery is, is trees shooting out of thread bobbins but the trees are coated with knitted wool. Also the background is knitted grey and white wool on cardboard triangles to look like mountains. At the front of the stage was a little village of tiny houses. I quite liked the lighting choices as when the wolf came the whole stage was flooded with pure blood red, when the sheep were doing their rapping thing, the lights were changing colour rapidly.
The story was set around the life of Silas, the boy who cried wolf. Silas had to become a shepherd when his grandfather retired but Silas desperately didn’t want to as he hated sheep. Sadly, Silas was forced to be a shepherd. Every year, at the coldest part of year, Silas would call ‘WOLF!!’ to get his mother to see if she won the annual Winter Jumper Competition but one year he called them on the same day when there actually was a wolf but no-one took any notice because they thought there was no wolf as Silas had been up to tricks all the other times. So Silas had to scare off the wolf to protect his flock of sheep. Then his Grandad and Mother came and saw he wasn’t lying. That year his mother won the Winter Jumper Competition and they were very happy.
I would recommend this play to children from 6 years old plus. I really liked this play all in all it was very, very good.
Oliver, Year 8
