Honk!

Having never seen the show, nor this company before, I was intrigued to see what it was all about, and how it would fare in the hands of a brand new company (Morecambe Youth Theatre) created specifically for children.

Based on ‘The Ugly Duckling’, the story itself follows Ugly’s journey of self discovery, the friendly and the not so friendly others Ugly meets on the way and the life lessons learned during the journey.

As Mother Duck Ida, Frankie McGrady sang, moved and acted with conviction, easily convincing the audience that she did indeed love ‘Ugly’, no matter what. This is quite a large role, with a lot to remember, and Frankie performed with aplomb.

Her husband Drake, is a pretty uncomplicated and laid back soul - Charlie Dingle accomplished this with ease - comically timing his retorts well, and having the audience laughing with him with every expression and quote.

The Ducklings: Beaky, Fluff, Billy and Downy were charmingly played by Daisy Carlton, Lola Osborne, Seren Morris and Isabella Sheldon - with Seren adding extra charm as the Solo Froglet too.

The squad routine by the Greylags was well executed, with the (both) very talented Sarah Darlington and Poppy Barcas leading the way as Greylag and Dot.

Abi Jones was purrfect in the role of Cat, playing the role with a knowing wink and nod to the audience but never pushing so far that it might become Pantomime in its delivery.

This brings me to the Ugly Duckling herself - Ugly, played by Mya Tomlinson. One of the things with Mya is that she wholeheartedly put herself into the role. The audience loved Ugly’s innocence and determination and took the journey with Mya, from ugly duckling to swan. Well done.

There are so many roles in this show, I can’t name them all for fear of missing anyone out - suffice to say, every single person played their part magnificently, and the production really was a joy to watch.

Staging was simple and effective, with an open stage and props generally taken on and off to depict the scenes; these were pretty slick and didn’t really interfere with the story telling. If I had one gripe at all, it would have to be the sound: on occasion it was a bit overbearing, and drowned out some of the soloists' lines.

Musical Director, Claire Allcock must have had fun with this, and her hard work paid off.

Director and Choreographer Sophie Jade Butler should be really proud of what her and her team achieved - a lot went into this production, and it showed.

Honk apparently was not originally written for young performers, but I must say, it does seem to translate well to youth productions, as it really is a joyous celebration of our differences.

Congratulations on your first production, MY Theatre, and thank you for your invite. Here's to many more

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