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A tale based on magic that lacks… magic
Unfortunately this seasonal family show will not add to the company’s past triumphs, writes GORDON PARSONS
A magnificent, life-sized puppet, seems to offer hope [Manuel Harlan]

The Magician’s Elephant
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Stratford-upon-Avon

FOR their first live main house Stratford theatre production in 18 months and with Christmas coming up, the RSC needed another Matilda-type smash hit.  

To decide on a stage adaptation of US prize-winning children’s author, Kate DiCamillo’s fable about a boy’s search for a lost sister aided by an elephant, already earmarked for a Netflix animated film, must have seemed a cert.

Oddly, for a tale based on magic, that is what this show lacks.

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