THE RELUCTANT DRAGON
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The Reluctant Dragon might have been one of those plays. Adapted from a story by Kenneth Grahame, the author of The Wind in the Willows, it contains sentences like this: “His parents were fond of him too, though they didn’t let on in his hearing, so he was left to go his own way and read as much as he liked; and instead of frequently getting a cuff on the side of the head, as might very well have happened to him, he was treated more or less as an equal by his parents, who sensibly thought it a very fair division of labour that they should supply the practical knowledge, and he the book-learning.”
This guy is a children’s author? I don’t know how much the kids understood of Grahame’s prose, but I sure had trouble following it.
Grahame’s prose may be beyond the comprehension of any kid I know, but the gist of his story is not. The Reluctant Dragon is a kids’ show honestly meant for kids, not for adults hell- bent on exposing their kids to culture. Even the theater space itself seems designed with children in mind. The kids sit on small carpet samples scattered on the floor, and even though the windows are hung with bright ribbons of cloth to keep out the sunlight, the room never goes quite dark. Small children are made to feel welcome and comfortable.
