The Wind in the Willows *** 1/2
Sat, 24 June 2006, 11:40 amGordon the Optom3 posts in thread
The Wind in the Willows *** 1/2
Sat, 24 June 2006, 11:40 am‘The Wind in the Willows’ is Kenneth Grahame’s classic children’s story presented by Curtin’s Hayman Theatre Company in the Dolphin Theatre, UWA until 1st July 2006. Many of the performances are during the day.
This is a lively adaptation by the director Tony Nicholls. This play was presented about three years ago and has returned by popular demand.
It is the tale of how Wally Weasel and his friends who are fed up with living in a damp river bank and have decided to move on. The residence that they fancy is that owned by Mr Toad, a wealthy waster. They set him up, get him arrested and sent to prison. He escapes and manages with his good friends Ratty, Mole, and Badger to regain his mansion.
This drama, with pantomime overtones, starts off quite dark and for the first couple of minutes some of the children may be a bit worried. Then the Rabbits appear and the whole show becomes much lighter. There is singing and dancing with the extra fun of Alfred the flatulent horse.
This show whilst being extremely well directed by Tony Nicholls and Sarah Fay tended to polarise the actors. Many first year students have been given a chance to perform. Some like Ratty (Jonathan Best) really got into their part, others despite giving it their all, were a little weak.
The makeup (Megan Guise and Lisa Stichling) and costumes (Alyce Pilgrim) were excellent.
The main acting credit must go to Mole (Ashlee Giblett), Wally Weasel (Alan Chambers), and Toad himself who was truly outstanding and held the show together (Angelique Jorre De St Jorre).
The children loved this. Even a couple of three year olds just beamed. Recommended for the youngsters.
This is a lively adaptation by the director Tony Nicholls. This play was presented about three years ago and has returned by popular demand.
It is the tale of how Wally Weasel and his friends who are fed up with living in a damp river bank and have decided to move on. The residence that they fancy is that owned by Mr Toad, a wealthy waster. They set him up, get him arrested and sent to prison. He escapes and manages with his good friends Ratty, Mole, and Badger to regain his mansion.
This drama, with pantomime overtones, starts off quite dark and for the first couple of minutes some of the children may be a bit worried. Then the Rabbits appear and the whole show becomes much lighter. There is singing and dancing with the extra fun of Alfred the flatulent horse.
This show whilst being extremely well directed by Tony Nicholls and Sarah Fay tended to polarise the actors. Many first year students have been given a chance to perform. Some like Ratty (Jonathan Best) really got into their part, others despite giving it their all, were a little weak.
The makeup (Megan Guise and Lisa Stichling) and costumes (Alyce Pilgrim) were excellent.
The main acting credit must go to Mole (Ashlee Giblett), Wally Weasel (Alan Chambers), and Toad himself who was truly outstanding and held the show together (Angelique Jorre De St Jorre).
The children loved this. Even a couple of three year olds just beamed. Recommended for the youngsters.
One of the sad points of this show is that this whole show could have worked in Curtin’s own venue, rather than the Curtin University’s hierarchy wasting many thousands of dollars unnecessarily hiring another venue.