Fiddler On The Roof

I really enjoyed this production, it had humour, pathos and was good musically. The scene was set by the Russian Army cast members walking through the foyer and bar before the production – casting malevolent glances at the audience, and downing a shot of vodka – which helped to get the feeling going.

There were directorial touches that made this an interesting and realistic production to watch, good attention to religious detail particularly.

The scene changes, of which there were many, were accomplished well in blue light mostly, which enabled the audience to see what was happening, whilst not actually breaking the continuity from the previous scene.

The opening ‘Tradition’ was rousing, with the whole cast really interacting. I was impressed with the ensemble overall, they were mostly expressive, just a few people who needed to use their faces a little more, and to make sure that what they were feeling reached their eyes.

I liked Tevye as played by Andrew Frost – he was quiet, forceful, and humorous where relevant – with a definite twinkle in his eye. His relationship with his God was palpable, and made him everything we wanted him to be.

Angie Frost, Andrew’s wife in actuality, also played his wife Golde – which gave the couple a lot of empathy. Angie was both strong and submissive, a nice portrayal.

I liked the concept of the Fiddler (Hannah Frost) being present with Tevye as his ‘conscience’, it worked really well.

If I Were a Rich man is always a show-stealer, and this was no exception, it was handled sympathetically and tunefully by Andrew.

The three older sisters were nicely played by Lacey Cousins, Cera Rose Pickering and Sarah-Louise Levy as Tzeitel, Hodel and Chava respectively. They all achieved good characterisations, and I liked their interpretation and movement for ’Matchmaker’.

The two younger girls, Zoe Wood and Imogen Barnes as Shprintze and Bielke, were charming and looked so sweet. They reacted well to all the situations, and they completed a lovely family group.

Gordon Pownall as Lazar Wolf, needed to be a bit more rough and loud, to contrast with Tevye, I felt he was too soft, so we didn’t get the light and shade that could have been there.

Maureen Stretch gave us a very good Yente, exactly right for the type of woman she would have been. There was small problem with words, which dropped the pace at one stage, but it was soon picked up again.

Motel played by Ian Ellis-Hall gave us the right sort of characterisation for the shy tailor, he interacted well with Tzeitel.

I needed Perchik (Graham Duncan) to be a bit more revolutionary in his outlook, however, the interaction between him and Hodel was charming.

The villagers processing through the audience in Sabbath Prayer was a good touch, and drew the audience in to the music.

Unfortunately, during the dream scene it was a little difficult at times to understand what Fruma Sarah was singing – I’m not entirely sure why, whether her mic was turned up too high so it blurred, or whether the music was too loud, I don’t know. The effect of the grave opening was a good way of achieving the impact required.

The railway station scene really gave the impression of the cold, and I loved the scene between Tevye and Hodel, very emotive.

The reaction to Chava wanting to be with Fyedka (Peter Tolfts) was telling and a good indication of how tradition worked. Tevye’s reaction was bang on – and then his last minute turnaround was doubly impressive. Some real emotion felt in that scene.

Tevye’s number ‘Chavelah’ was charming, with his daughters shown dancing behind the gauze, then departing with their respective husbands.

The ‘bottle’ dance was nicely accomplished, as were the wedding dances, from both the villagers and the Russians. In fact choreography was generally good and in keeping with the era. The smashing of the bottles at the end of Act 1 underlined the futility of a pogrom in such a small village and achieved the tension needed at exactly the right moment.

Musically very sound, some lovely swells, and nice harmonies, with nice accompaniment from the band.

Costumes were good throughout, I really liked the use of colours particularly in the wedding scene – it lifted the perception of the production, and made us aware that everything wasn’t always doom and gloom!

The only thing I would have liked to have seen was perhaps the cast singing one of the numbers – perhaps ‘To Life’ or ‘Tradition’, just to round off the production, – but this is probably personal preference!!

My thanks to BTC for their hospitality, we were looked after very well, and enjoyed a very strong production, that was musically sound.

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