Finding Nemo JR

Walking in to the auditorium at Harpers for The Drama Department`s production of Finding Nemo JR, my five year old guest uttered an audible gasp and her eyes went large trying to take in the amazing visual feast that met us! Red Floral Architecture team had once again been very busy – there were different shaped balloons, leaves, shiny streamers, polystyrene rocks, huge shells, a shark, a ginormous seahorse, star fish and a large orange and black clown fish. We were immediately transported to a  coral garden complete with coral wall sections in all the bright tonal colours, the blue lights flooding the stage helped create the illusion of us being deep under the sea. At the back of the stage was a large screen with the Disney Finding Nemo JR media pack being projected on to it. The raised  stage floor itself had steps leading down to the audience in the front centre, there was a small apron in front of the first row of seats for the cast to use as required.

The costumes by Janet Newcombe and Director Dawn Leigh were all colourful, imaginative and instantly recognisible as the animated characters they were depicting. Sound by Tube Uk Ltd  (operated by Tracy Harper) was good, no gremlins or squeals - levels were kept on a good balance during vocals and dialogue could be clearly heard at all times. Lighting by MSL Ltd and operated by Choreographer Gary Jones flowed well, it was very complimentary to the scenes. Choreography by Gary Jones was solid and the cast executed all their steps well. Sienna Taylor as Prof Ray controlled her manta wings ably across the audience and also performed  some elegant  pointe work in the production – its not easy to stay centred like that on that surface in pointe shoes and with that amount of people also in your stage space altering the steadiness of the floor underfoot.

Brodie Robson as Nemo was perfect casting. He had a lovely sense of urgency in his voice and movements without appearing or sounding rushed. He has great diction and connects with his audience well. Jack Lightfoot as Marlin also connected well with the audience and had some clear diction. I would suggest to the rest of the speaking cast in the future to just slow down a little bit with dialogue  – sometimes it appeared a little rushed, it could be adrenaline kicking in with there being a live audience but it is something to consider. Cody Drury (Bruce) and Teddy Nickeas (Chum) had some nice strong characterisations and facial expressions.

The ensemble worked very hard in this production and had a lot to remember. They seemed to particularly enjoy the section with Crush (Ava Staines-Heath). Both my guest and I enjoyed your production of Finding Nemo JR and I look forward to seeing you all again very soon.

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