Windmill Theatre is renowned for its large scale children’s theatre extravaganzas and it is delightful to see them staging Grug and the Rainbow, a smaller scale and more intimate children’s performance.

The acting trio Jude Henshall, Nathan O’Keefe and Ellen Steele shone throughout this production, which has a clear understanding of all the elements required to create exciting and memorable theatre for pre-school and junior primary children.

Grug is a well-known and much loved character in children’s literature and in this story the actors are wanting to create a rainbow for him.

Grug appears in various heights and sizes as a cute and likeable character and he is joined by other attractive puppets such as an echidna, Cara the snake and a blue bower bird.

Jonathon Oxlade’s clever set consists of three mounds of varied heights which provide flexibility in the form of hidey holes, skiing slopes, bicycle tracks and a beach: each transformation takes the audience on an imaginative journey.

The actors established an easy rapport with the young audience, chatting with them on floor level about Grug before the show began. They operated the puppets with skill and dexterity and they had an excellent sense of comic timing: I was impressed with the way they engaged with the audience, had them participate in physical activity and then managed to have them seated and absorbed in the next aspect of the story.

The actors were clearly tuned in with their audience: I love to see a young audience so rapt in a performance that they can’t help but verbalise their inner thoughts. When an actor took a paintbrush and was in need of some coloured paint, they swiped it along an object and suddenly it became that colour: one audible comment was: “How did that happen?” and another: “That was magic.”

The audience was closely following the story and Grug’s adventures: in one episode Grug was struggling to ride a bike but some time on he was cycling efficiently and a little boy quietly commented: “He’s really good now.”

Good children’s theatre should inspire spontaneous comment: Windmill’s Grug and the Rainbow had the audience engaged and absorbed for the entire time and, because of this, they elicited enthusiastic responses.

I also love to see children laughing and this company knows what appeals to children and how to make them laugh heartily. When Cara the snake was dancing or Grug fell out of an ambulance the audience were in stitches.

The creators and performers of Grug and the Rainbow know their audience and their craft and they have created yet another significant production for Windmill Theatre.

Grug and the Rainbow is presented by Windmill Theatre and the Adelaide Festival Centre and is showing at the Space Theatre from December 3 to 14.