Shrek The Musical

Christmas at Manchester’s Palace Theatre is going to be green and smelly this year, as the musical version of ‘Shrek’ makes its Manchester debut.

Is there anyone by now who hasn’t seen the film? If not, the plot of the stage version is the same – a big grumpy ogre teams up with a chirpy donkey and assorted cartoon characters to rescue Princess Fiona from a fiery dragon.

Originally directed by Rob Ashford, who must be very versatile given that he also directed ‘Macbeth’ with Kenneth Branagh for MIF13, the touring version is directed by Nigel Harman. It makes an ideal family Christmas show, even though it doesn't actually have anything to do with the festive season.

The make up and costumes are brilliant, the sets fantastic and the special effects magical in a production that very cleverly manages to translate into live action all of the things that made the film so much fun.