Review: I Theatre The Boy Who Cried Wolf!

A famous Aesop Fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a tale which I think all of us grow up with. Dumpling first heard of the tale when she was attending her Chinese classes during her preschool years and there were a lot of talking points from the story.

From a child's development perspective, it is not uncommon for children to fib. However, with young children, it is sometimes hard for them to grasp “consequences” as it is somewhat an abstract concept. The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a wonderful tale for the children to then explore and internalize what consequences lying can bring.

I Theatre’s production of The Boy Who Cried Wolf starts with a young shepherd "Boy" who has problems staying awake while watching over his four sheep which he enjoys a close friendship with.

The four sheep played by familiar faces from previous I Theatre's productions (Alecia Kim, Joshua Lim, Daphne Ong and Erwin Shah Ismail) have their own quirky demeanor and Dumpling was exceptionally tickled by one particular smart aleck (not gonna review who so watch out for this sheep!) which uses BIG vocabulary (i.e. “fundamentally”, “inquisitive”, etc) as he apparently got to be so smart because he ATE UP a dictionary. (Dumpling guffawed at that point.)

Now, Boy was bored day after day and it was putting him to sleep. So, he needed help to stay awake with the help of the audience (though being a caffeine addict, I think he could do with some Kopi Kao). :p  

Boy then decided to pretend that a wolf is nearby and called for help.

Like most I Theatre's productions, puppets are woven into the story and it came in the form of a theatrical play told by the sheep who attempted to teach Boy the moral of white lies by putting up a play on the Chicken Licken story.

Like the classic tale, the boy did continue to call out with fake cries for help (though "accidentally") and a wolf did emerge.

But with an unexpected twist!

What I noticed in this first play of the year by I Theatre was that the props and costumes are really colorful! And with a good understanding of its audience profile, unlike the original tale, this production has the sheep taking on a bigger role, featuring more interaction with Boy. Coupled with fast songs and some physical comedy, this production drew the young audience in quickly. 

On the whole, I find the play a lively and a colorful affair and I enjoyed the modern bits to it. Some adult humor was also incorporated with the accents that the Chicken Licken characters used. Importantly, did the kid like it?

Here's what Dumpling wrote in her school journal – she watched the play a second time with her school after we caught the preview. 

Sorry about the blurry picture but what here's what she wrote:

"My favorite part of the musical is the play they had in the production Chicken Licken. I enjoyed that part the most because Ducky Lucky spoke English in a extremely funny way. There was a plot twist (blurred out because of spoiler)..."

The moral of the of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"is that you have to be honest and truthful, and that you have to own up to your mistakes. 

I couldn't have described it better. :)

Venue: Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel

Event Dates: 15 Feb - 19 March 

Mon - Fri: 10am 

Sat: 10.30am and 2.30pm

Duration: 55 mins (including meet and greet)

To purchase tickets, please click here

Disclaimer: We were invited to watch I Theatre's The Boy Who Cried Wolf to give our opinions of it. We are not compensated for the post. All opinions expressed are entirely ours.  

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