Honk

How strange to see a musical where every adult performs as an animal, Cats and The Lion King  being two others that come to mind. The whole continuing ethos of High Green is family and this production is no exception. Note many of the production team are also performing along with further family members, husbands, wives and children. The production based on the old Ugly Duckling Story with a true to life story of being accepted when clearly different. The reality of standing out from the crowd and the difficulties of being accepted captures modern day situations. The well known and respected pens of Stiles and Drew provide the songs and scripts to this lesser performed musical. 

On entering the theatre all the FOH are appropriately dressed in country style clothing, historic farming memorabilia, wagon wheels, milk churns, bags of wheat, buckets and old tools adorn the downstage wings. The curtain opens to simple painted flats and the five unhatched eggs. The five piece orchestra cleverly positioned up stage behind the eggs. The whole production team, as mentioned above, should be pleased with the results of their efforts, not only within the production but in the case of many of them performing as well.

Every brood of ducklings require a Drake and an Ida , Dad and Mum, these roles performed by Josh Milner and Rachel Marshall, two well performed roles adding lots of comical moments, the handing out of life jackets, the comments about a man’s work is never done when Ida was not there. Performance through the song words were well delivered, all with excellent clarity. Every production needs a baddy and Cat by Laura Hall was that. The clear narrator role opening the production, the scheming and teasing carried on throughout, a powerful performance well delivered. The four ducklings, Gracy Lisle, Drew Edwards, Rosie Eccles and Eiza Lambert. Well done to you all, very clear delivery of lines, some lovely scenes and plenty of visual reaction with the audience. You all performed with a good level of confidence,well done.

Maureen/Queenie by Lyndsay Linley and Lowbutt by Becki Gregory two experienced performers, strong stage presenceand your excellent portrayal of the opening of Act2 scene, really funny and performed to a high standard along with ‘It Takes all Sorts to Make a World. Sung and portrayed well, Pinkfoot/ Penny by Jasmin Milner, the boss, Lovely character part performed well, you certainly showed your ‘listen to me role’ along with the TV interviewer role.

Three very competent performances Bulldog by Lylah Gregory, a lovely portrayal with some really special singing, Dot/Bewick by Eliza Clarke, half of the military duo, well done, clear diction a lovely well performed character part, and Greylag by Seth Johnson, the general, wow what a strong performance, such powerful delivery of all your lines with ease.  You should all be pleased with your performances and I look forward to seeing you in future productions.

Turkey by Jonny Glaves lovely cameo part, and consistently thankful to get through Xmas unscathed. Partridge by Pixie Lisle, Grace by Emma Andrews, Heneritta by Eleanor Moore and Snowey by Lily Hutchinson you all lit up the stage in your many ensemble appearances. So lovely to see young performers learning theatre skills and portraying their many scenes with total commitment. Throughout the production I was pleased by the clear diction and competent singing. 

Finally we have Ugly by Ben Shipman, the poor duckling who could only Honk and not Quack, a large part played well, you kept your character and non stop movement throughout, many memorable scenes showing real sentiment with your Mother Ida and the well delivered duet of ‘ Hold Your Head Up High ‘with Ida.

Sound and lighting worked well and the costumes were perfect for the musical. I really appreciated seeing the youngsters being involved and hopefully benefitting for working with their experienced adult performers. 

Thank you to the unseen backstage, and the warm welcome from the FOH team.

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