Honk!

This musical adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson story ‘The Ugly Duckling’ is a lovely little piece of British musical theatre, an audience pleaser which was very well performed by this talented young group.

In a countryside setting we firstly meet expectant parents Ida (Eleanor Walker) and Drake (Josh Russell) and their various feathered friends who all live near the same small lake and so the background is established to the legendary tale. The creativity of the costumes from the outset was impressive, colourful and bright with all the ducklings in vivid yellow. After the eggs hatching one by one, Ida is alone with the last and largest egg when it starts to crack and out emerges her ‘ugly’ duckling, played by Jack Anthony, who very quickly engages with the audience with his ‘Honk’! sound at every opportunity. He portrays the part with clever stagecraft to portray a gangly, awkward and very different bird. Accompanied only by his loneliness Honk falls prey to the evil clutches of the Cat (Josh Bennett) and almost becomes lunch – a very funny song accompanies this!! We are treated to a journey of self-discovery and memorable moments including an encounter with some military styled geese, one of many brilliantly conceived scenes. Having learned a lot and endured many experiences Honk then matures into a swan and has an eventual reunion with his family.

Simplicity was the cornerstone to a superbly effective set. At the beginning of Act 2 for example the positioning of a giant couch and equally large furniture to depict the size difference with the characters was excellent. This also was an brilliant prop and piece of scenery from which Queenie and Lowbut played by Laura Pyatt and Ellie Gilbert respectively delivered the song “It Takes All Sorts” and in a trio with ‘The Cat the song “Together”. Both were lovely musical numbers.

The show is described as a musical comedy, and it really fulfils this description. It is full of humour and excitement with levels of sentiment. A well balanced orchestra provided vibrancy for a strong musical score that includes a number of extremely melodious musical pieces comprising well sung solos, duets and group pieces and some rousing full ensemble numbers – “Hold Your Head Up High “ is a great reprise.

The characterisations were striking, creating an enjoyable performance. All on stage clearly were enthusiastic and relished the opportunity to entertain a most appreciative audience. Innovative lighting was much in evidence producing huge variance in colour and tones which all helped bring the show to life. All the performers made the most of fine choreography and were able to optimise fully the stage capacity extremely well indeed.

This was a delightful production to watch and small wonder the audience applause included much cheering and comment coming as it did from many proud parents of the performers on stage to whom well done for a great piece of expressive entertainment.

Ian G Cox
Regional Representative - Worcestershire East (District 12)
NODA – Be Inspired by Amateur Theatre
On behalf of Rachel Millar

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