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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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Julie Bywater with her Grand High Witch happy face, Harry Clee as the boy and Jane Fisher as the grandmother. The Witches
Dudley Little Theatre
Netherton Arts Centre
**** A WORD of advice. If you ever find
yourself in Bournemouth never eat at the Hotel Magnificent, indeed, to
be safe, don’t even enter its portals. Not only does it entertain witch’s conventions
but it is riddled with rodents and the hygiene habits of its staff, who
appear to be on day release from a medium secure medical facility, leave
a lot to be desired. Perhaps for lot it might be best to read
everything.
The hotel is the
setting for much of David Wood’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s
The Witches,
Dudley Little Theatre’s alternative to the festive panto, not that
you can escape completely with a slick and funny slapstick kitchen scene
between two chefs (James Silvers and Ellis Daker) and a mouse that would
grace any Cinderella, Dick Whittington or Sleeping Beauty. Oh, yes it
would! Silvers, incidentally, has his work cut out as he
also pops up as a lawyer and has a second job as doorman at the hotel. Dahl’s children’s stories have a dark underbelly
and this is no exception; for those unfamiliar with the tale, a boy, we
never do find out his name, is living with his grandmother in Norway
after his parents are killed in a car crash – Dahl’s parents were
Norwegian incidentally. She tells him of a secret society of witches who
hate children, who all smell of fresh dog poo to a witch. The witches
look ordinary, which makes them even more dangerous, and their mission
is to rid the world of children by turning them all into mice. Returning to school in England the boy encounters
the witches at their council in the hotel which results in . . . too
horrible to relate, but just think small and furry, with whiskers. But the boy, or perhaps more accurately, rodent,
and his gran battle back and rid the world of witches . . . at least for
now. Just beware of ladies wearing gloves is a Young Harry Clee is impressive as the boy, on
stage for much of the play, while Jane Fisher is a suitably grannyish
grandmother, offering matter of fact advice on witches, as you would,
with just enough of a rebel streak to take on the witch hordes. Then, as is often the case in Dahl’s world, there
is the family from hell, in this case the Jenkins with Mr, played by
Andy Rock, a boorish, thug of a man and Mrs, played, at short notice, by
director Phil Sheffield, sporting a shapely pair of pins incidentally,
who mothers her repulsive son Bruno with a vengeance. She's behind you! It might not be panto but it is still festive fun at Dudley Alex Nicklin is another youngster putting in an
impressive shift as Bruno whose hobbies seem to be eating, annoying
people, eating, insolence, eating, being a real pain and eating. Bruno is the first victim of the witches, easily
trapped by his greed, and to be honest, he is such a repulsive little
chap, the witches are welcome to him. Only his equally nauseating
parents are likely to miss him. And as for the witches, the boy’s first encounter
is with Claire Hetherington as a passing witch who tries to grab him
from a tree house, making the vague threat of grandma’s tale a chilling
reality. Witch Louise Reed risks incineration by asking questions but makes sure she is obsequious enough to survive as the witch's council decide their plan of evil action. It is not the easiest of plays to stage but,
without giving too much of the plot away, Phil Sheffield, on a notable
directorial debut, has done a good job in making the witch spells and
magic potions work effectively – although Dudley market might well be
out of stock of clockwork mice for a while. Sheffield has also done sterling work, along with
Claire Hetherington (in human form) and Jenny Stanley in the costume
department with a collection of mouse puppets and 10 extra witches to
cater for in an ensemble, all with gloves (the giveaway) and wigs to
cover their pustuled bald heads – excellent make up, if you like weeping
sores and stuff, by Halesowen College. There is also the clever use of a video backdrop
with DIY guide to spotting a witch, Sheffield again, as a visual aid to
gran’s description, a seascape for the sea journey from Norway, and an
ingenious running mouse eye view of the world as Bruno and the boy
escape to find gran and then the boy steals a magic potion from under a
bed and escapes with a frog, don’t ask, played by Katie Wilkinson. Super
stuff from Tony Stamp, Max Bywater and Nigel Espley. Adding to the atmosphere is musical director Ray
Curran on keyboard accompanying the play’s songs and, rather like the
silent movies, adding mood music and filling in for scene changes,
twelve in all which, although done efficiently, still slow things down a
bit, so the music helps keep things ticking over. Dudley has produced a fine, fun alternative to
panto, welcoming the festive season with an entertaining and amusing
evening paying homage to Dahl's dark fairy tale. To 10-12-16.
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ll
I would say – and there are a lot of them about in winter.