 |
|
|
|
|
|||
|
Youth Theatre Reviews |
|||
|
|
Emile and the DetectivesBy Erich Kastner, adapted and directed by Adam Forde This is a book I have never read (although now I must) but it is one to appeal directly to children being the adventures of twelve year old Emil and his friends becoming detectives in order to catch the thief who has stolen Emil’s precious seven pounds - and this stage production is very impressive.
The direction is meticulous, the music tuneful, lyrics meaningful, set and lighting design (by Justin Sutton and Dan Last) create perfect pictures to enhance the story and the choreography by Caroline Dooley and Julia Black is painstakingly inventive to complement both music and narrative.
Oh yes – and the children are good too! In fact they are amazing! You would be hard pressed to find a professional production which could top this one. Every single child – all forty six of them – live their parts as if they had been born to them, performing unselfconsciously and with evident enjoyment – with little ginger haired Cameron Manson in the small roles of Luke and then young Mittler no doubt completely unaware that he almost steals the show.
At Thursday’s matinee performance there was a slight delay while 188 young children from Holy Trinity School, Crawley were led in to their seats in the audience and it is a great credit to the performance that they were silent (well almost) and absorbed throughout. The Overture had them spontaneously clapping in time – a clever ploy – and then the curtain rises on a scene with a life size ‘statue’ and they are wondering “Is it a real person?”, after which they were totally engrossed and caught up in the adventure. Yes, the statue is real – Will Dunglinson as Grand Duke Charles, managing to remain immobile even while having a moustache drawn on his face.
The ‘tour de force’ comes from a talented Josh Freeborn in the title role With a great deal of action, an enormous amount of dialogue and several songs to perform he is on stage throughout, his first-rate performance seeming effortless.
His ‘cousin’ Pony (strange name, but no matter) is played by Emma Sidi and another superb talent here as not only has she plenty of dialogue but it has to be performed with non-stop rapidity – in fact she hardly stops to draw breath – and this contrasts and at the same time complements Professor (Matt Gavan) who is so shy and tongue tied in the presence of a girl. This is young love blossoming – so much so that they don’t notice young Manson wandering in and helping himself to their breakfast.
The ages of the children range from eight to nineteen, but most of them are about eleven or twelve, and all appear to be amazingly talented, and also very hard working, The precision of their choreography – all in perfect unison – shows that their twice weekly rehearsals, beginning in May, have been well worthwhile. The youngsters who played adults had also studied their characters well and were very credible.
Impossible to mention all the exceptional performers, but just two more. Michael Cotton as Gustav, Emil’s new friend in Berlin, was a down to earth, cheeky and very likable character, and Tuesday (played at matinees by Kate Burgess) invited sympathy as she sat woebegone at the side of the stage waiting for news of the adventure and was almost forgotten by the participants.
In their very first public performance of this production there were a few (a very few) fluffed lines – I have heard seasoned professionals do worse. Last year the beautiful and exceptionally well performed Arabian Nights, this year an exciting musical adventure. What can they have in store for next year? I can hardly wait!
|
||
|
|
