Writer: Rachel Huggins
On a sunny Friday morning, a little bit of magic kicked off the day’s events at the 2025 International Literature Festival Dublin. Meet our Friends the Dragons is an abridged version of two larger shows by Dragon Song Productions, The Moon Dragon and The Sea Dragon. Bertie the Moon Dragon is responsible for raising the moon into the sky but when he falls asleep one night, he needs help from a colourful cast of characters and the audience to get him back to work. In The Sea Dragon, the colours from the coral reef have mysteriously faded. With Kipper the Sea Dragons help, another bunch of wonderful characters set off to restore the reef.
From the moment the show began with her opening her magical storytelling book, a room full of toddlers were completely enraptured with Rachel Huggins. She creates a relaxed and calm atmosphere, informing the grown ups that toddlers are welcome to move around, leave if needed, make noise or do whatever else is needed to keep them happy. She introduces us to Owl first and immediately has the children (and the adults) flapping their wings, spinning and diving. The show is full of moments where the children are encouraged to interact, from shouting out, to singing and dancing, to copying different actions, ensuring that the children stay engaged throughout. A very hard task in a room full of excited toddlers. Halfway through the show, there is a small break with a rainbow parachute and singing. A lovely interlude to get any wiggles out before the second half begins.
The story is displayed on a screen behind Huggins as she performs, providing beautiful, colourful illustrations to the words. The characters are also brought to life with spectacular puppets by Jane Philips from Raggedy Rouge Puppets. The puppets come through the audience at various points and children are allowed to touch and talk to them. In what seemed to be spectacular instinct, those controlling the puppets knew exactly when to step back if a child seemed overwhelmed.
Immersive, interactive and absolutely magical, Meet Our Friends the Dragons is one to catch while you can.
Review by Zoe (almost 3):
Storytime teacher Rachel was so nice. I singed and danced and was an owl. The baby dragon was so cute, I got to touch her. The egg hatched. I think I’ll go to storytime again. I love Bertie.
Runs Until 17th May 2025.
