30 ARTS
THE WEEK 10 August 2019
Drama
Stars reflect the overall quality of reviews and our own independent assessment (5 stars=don’t miss;1star=don’t bother)
Book your tickets now by calling 020-7492 9948 or visiting TheWeekTickets.co.uk
©A
LASTAIR MUIR; STEVE TANNER
Theatre: The Worst Witch
Vaudeville Theatre, London WC2 (0330-333 4814). Until8September Running time: 2hrs 10mins ★★★★
This entertaining musical
adaptation of Jill Murphy’s
much-lovedWorst Witchbooks,
detailing the misadventures of
hapless, pigtailed apprentice
Mildred Hubble, has landed in
the West End followingaUK
tour–and offers well-honed
“magical mischief and
crowdpleasing mayhem”, said
Alex Wood on What’s On Stage.
Emma Reeves’s adaptation gets
in plenty of “cheeky” references
to theHarry Pottermega-show
up the road. (“Which is the evil
house?” Mildred asks as she’s
being sorted. “We don’t have
an evil house dear,” replies the
headmistress Miss Cackle. “That would be silly.”) But the show
is a“comedic caper” in its own right, offeringa“cauldron of
delights, perfect forafamily summer show”. Rosie Abraham is
very funny as the petulant Ethel, and Polly Lister “has an absolute
hoot” playing both Miss Cackle and her evil twin Agatha.
Compared toThe Cursed Child,with its vast budget and array
of illusions, this “splendid” show embracesa“knowingly lo-fi”
approach that develops intoa“running gag”, said Claire Allfree
in The Daily Telegraph. When hoity-toity Ethel is turned into a
pig, for example, we laugh along at the “transformation”, which
involves justatoy pig’s nose and pig ears. Yet Theresa Heskins’s
“delightfully boisterous” production is far from unsophisticated,
or lacking in spectacle. Simon Daw’s set design “beautifully
evokes Murphy’s original hand-
drawn illustrations”, while the
school interior heaves with
staircases and shelves bearing
bottles of eerily glowing potions.
And the onstage band puts over
the “jaunty” soundtrack with
infectious energy.
Ifound it very muchashow
of two halves, said Chris
Bennion in The Times. The first
half has its moments, with an
enjoyably “goofy” turn from
Danielle Bird as Mildred, and
alovely broomstick-based set
piece. But overall, the plotting
is clunky, there’s not enough
magic and the production fails
to soar. But “hang on to your interval ice creams”, because the
second half is “tremendous fun”. Lister is let loose as the vile
Agatha, spells are cast, witches do battle, and “young theatregoers
can–finally–believe in magic. Take that, Harry.”
Polly Lister (centre): an “absolute hoot”
The week’s other opening
Peter PanTroubadour White City Theatre, London W12
(020-7452 3000). Until 27 October
Sall yCookson’sversionofPeterPan,previouslyseenatBristol
andthe NT, has flown intoagiant new theatrical space in west
London, built on what used to beaBBC car park, where it still
works well; “the kids in front of me were rapt” (Daily Telegraph).
Theatre: Malory Towers
The Passenger Shed, Bristol (0117-987 7877). Until 18 August, then touring Running time: 1hr 30mins ★★★★
“High jinks in the dorm,
moonlit midnight feasts and
the fierce loyalty of female
friendship”: the familiar exploits
of Enid Blyton’s postwar
boarding-school girls have been
loved by generations of readers,
said Sam Marlowe in The
Times. If you have ever lost
yourself in the pages ofMalory
Towers(orSt Clare’s,orthe
Naughtiest Girlseries) then you
are “probably still harbouring
anostalgic pash” for Blyton’s
“broadly drawn characters”,
whose crises are always resolved
by the end of term–lessons in
kindness and cooperation duly
learnt. For this exuberant stage adaption ofMalory Towers,
Emma Rice has deployed all of her considerable gifts for
“wonderment and playfulness”–with artful contemporary
rejigging. There’s notably diverse casting, lots of “metatheatrical
winks” andacheering celebration of the yarn’s female focus. As
drama, the piece isabit lightweight–but “topping fun”.
Rice hasagift for “tickling upamouldering story”, and
making it “retro without being fey, relevant but not thudding”,
and “quirky yet loyal” to the original, said Quentin Letts in
The Sunday Times. Above all, she isa“big-hearted” storyteller,
who infuses us with an appealingly “goofy benevolence”. This
“rollicking” music-filled production is certainly full of her
hallmark “inventions and enchantments”, said Arifa Akbar in
The Guardian. Floorboards lift to conjure upaswimming pool;
aFrench class “morphs inafew
nifty moves” intoaParisian
restaurant with cancan dancers.
And the cast–includinganon-
binary actor, Vinnie Heaven, as
the horse-mad tomboy, Bill; and
an actor with dwarfism,
Francesca Mills, who plays
Sally with “bossy brilliance”
–are “all equally magnificent,
energetic performers with
forceful, flawless voices”.
This adaptation is clearly a
“labour of love”, but I’m afraid
Iwas underwhelmed, said
Dominic Cavendish in The
Daily Telegraph. There are too
many pace-sapping songs, which
come at the expense ofagripping narrative arc. Other than the
headmistress,avideo projection voiced by Sheila Hancock, there
are “sadly no teachers or matrons, and too little sense of nooks,
crannies, rituals, hierarchies”. As director, Rice is top of the class:
as adaptor, her report reads “could do better”.
Rebecca Collingwood as Gwendoline: part ofa“magnificent” cast
Album of the week
Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst: Complete Works, Volume Six
Toccata Classics £15.50
On this instalment of Ernst’scompleteworks ,his violin pieces,
played by SherbanLupu, form the main attraction. And the “new
sophistication” that the composer brought to “double-stopping
and single-violin polyphony is mesmerising” (Sunday Times).
