The Brighton-based company’s back catalogue includes theatre shows based upon such acclaimed stories as Zog and The Stick Man.
So, when Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre decided to come in as co-producer on Freckle’s new stage musical based upon The Baddies, they were, no doubt, confident they were on to a winner.
That confidence is repaid by a show in which Mama Mouse’s ghost story for her restless offspring comes to vivid life before our eyes.
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A charming little house (designed delightfully and ingeniously by Jasmine Swan) sits in an isolated rural location. It will soon be home to an intrepid girl (named “The Girl”, and played unflinchingly by Yuki Sutton) who has decided to stride out independently into the world.
However, unbeknownst to her, her bucolic retreat is also home to The Baddies, aka the terrible trio that is the ever-spooky Ghost (James Stirling), the spellbinding Witch (Rachel Bird) and the malodorous Troll (Dyfrig Morris).
No sooner has The Girl arrived at her new home than The Baddies are engaged in a hotly contested debate as to which of them is going to be most successful in scaring the living daylights out of her.
Right on cue, however, comes Mama Mouse (played by the splendidly voiced Lottie Mae O’kill).
Diminutive she may be, but she has enough schoolmarmish authority to whip The Baddies into line.
Under the instructions of the bossy rodent, each Baddie must take their turn at trying to get The Girl’s splendid, blue-checkered handkerchief.
Needless to say, The Baddies assume that their task is to frighten our young hero into giving up her prized possession, but maybe The Girl is made of sterner stuff than they realise.
The terrible trio boast – in composer Joe Stilgoe’s wonderfully catchy song – that they are “The Worst Baddies In The World”.
However, the beauty of director Katie Beard’s lively production is that the ghoulish characters are more likely to amuse than terrify.
The Lyceum’s website advertises the show as “most suitable for 3+ but all ages welcome”. However, any two-year-old who can follow the narrative, and pick up the neat twist at the end, would have to be pretty advanced.
One can’t blame parents and carers who take toddlers and infants to the show. There are precious few theatre works made for their children. But it’s only fair to say that The Baddies isn’t one of them.
Beard’s staging is a tremendously performed, if pretty straightforward, piece of storytelling (with a nicely adapted script by David Greig and Jackie Crichton).
However, Stilgoe’s fantastic songs set the production apart from standard theatrical fare for young audiences.
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Indeed, so good are the tunes that one can easily imagine the show attracting a deep-pocketed producer with eyes on a West End transfer.
At the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh until October 20, then touring the UK until June 12, 2025: thebaddieslive.com
