JAMES
AND THE GIANT PEACH
Made
in Colchester at the Mercury Theatre Colchester
15.08.2015
Trina
Bramman's beautifully realised set has the giant peach stone at its
core, and around it the Big Apple, suggested by trees made of lamp
posts and street signs. Television screens are put out with the
rubbish; an accordion lies waiting by the trash-can.
The
classic Roald Dahl story is brought to vibrant life in Matthew
Cullum's production for Made in Colchester, following the growing
trend for children's shows at the height of summer. Bright orange
t-shirts for the front of house, merchandise including butterfly
wands, and in the programme, entomological notes and a scrummy recipe
for Mississippi Magic Peach Cobbler.
Seven
actor/musicians play all the parts, introduced by Barbara Hockaday's
enthusiastic tour guide. James Le Lacheur makes a gangly, nerdy
James, knobbly knees and woolly hat. The insect inhabitants of the
Central Park house are Kate Adams' ladybird [trumpet], Pete Ashmore's
grasshopper [violin], Josie Dunn's scary Miss Spider – best dressed
of the insects – [clarinet], Matthew Rutherford's gloomy earthworm
[bass] and Dale Superville's centipede, tiny shoes suspended from his
coat [guitar]. The two last also play the grotesque Aunts, Sponge and
Spiker.
The
music [MD Richard Reeday] is sophisticated – Dale's food number a
highlight, together with the mournful euphonium solo.
And
the two hour show is full of bright ideas – puppetry [tiny versions
of the characters to give a sense of place and scale, a voracious
seagull], vox pops and reportage beamed to those same trash tvs, an
underwater ballet, a duel with pots and pans [the ladybird on sound
effects duty], a huge sail for the sea, umbrellas for sharks, a
mirror ball storm. The story ends with a ticker-tape welcome to New
York, after the audience has helped James to save the day once more
by blowing the air-borne peach to a safe landing.
“Wow!”
said the small child in the row behind as James's parents were eaten
by a rampaging rhino. “What happened ?” was a frequent question,
as well as “When can I go inside [the giant peach stone] ?”. Not
possible, alas, although the children are invited down after the
curtain call to inspect that splendid set at close quarters.
Not
as noisily in-your-face as a panto, the show may be a little too
complicated for the tinier members of the audience, especially if
they're unfamiliar with the original 1961 novel. But Dahl's winning
blend of magic, macabre and fantasy is well served in David Wood's
inventive adaptation – an ideal treat for an August afternoon.
production photograph by Robert Day
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