HONK Jr

Isn’t it wonderful that the original story of the Ugly Duckling, written nearly 180 years ago by the Danish author and poet Hans Christian Anderson, still remains just as well known today as it did then. Having maintained its popularity over the years in children’s books, in film, on stage and even in song, The Ugly Duckling found further acclaim in 1993 when the musical ‘HONK!’, a contemporary re-telling of Anderson’s original story, premiered at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury and would eventually become the first original British musical ever to be produced at the Royal National Theatre making its West End debut in 1999.

How lovely then that yet another new group of highly talented youngsters are keeping the famous fable alive in this latest production of ‘HONK! Jr’ which I had the great pleasure of watching at the Festival Drayton Centre in Market Drayton on Thursday evening. And what a fantastic production it was – bright, cheerful and full of delightful performances.

The Centre itself is a community owned building and provides wide-ranging facilities including the 175-seat state-of-the-art theatre which was full to capacity with every seat taken on opening night.

‘HONK Jr’ has been specially adapted for young performers and provides a good selection of interesting roles for all ages. It has a wealth of tuneful and memorable songs by George Stiles and lyrics together with a very witty script by Anthony Drewe.

The last to hatch from a giant egg in a brood of seven, Ugly looks quite a bit different from his beautiful yellow duckling brothers and sisters and makes a loud honking noise. It doesn’t take long for Ugly to feel uncomfortable in the company of the other farmyard animals, so he decides to leave on an adventure of self-discovery only to quickly fall foul of a nasty Tom Cat who is only interested in having ‘Duck a l’Orange’ for his tea. On his travels Ugly meets a host of interesting characters and realises that being different is not such a bad thing. Never far away from the thoughts of Mummy Duck Ida, her love for Ugly never waivers and despite all the problems he faces, just like most fairy tales, there’s a happy ending when Ugly becomes a pure white swan and falls in love.

Without exception, every member of this young and talented cast worked very hard to provide a high level of individual performance skill with great enthusiasm and energy. It’s almost impossible to feature all of them in my review but there are several I must mention.

As Daddy Drake, I loved Lucy Dixon’s opening number, eventually leading all the other farmyard animals – and there were quite a few -  into a rousing chorus with ‘A Poultry Tale’. As Ugly’s Mummy, Ida, Lily Jones sang beautifully and was very believable in her never waning love and devotion for her son. Her duet of ‘Hold Your Head Up High’ with Ugly was particularly moving and her solo rendition of ‘Every Tear A Mother Cries’ was a real tear-jerker.

In the title role, Georgina Bussue was quite exceptional in every aspect of her performance and particularly in her songs. I thought ‘Different’ was a highlight of the evening but all her vocals were strong and well delivered. Georgina’s dancing skills were also well displayed, especially in the barn scene duet with the Black Cat, Martha Cooper, who was great fun and also gave a very memorable performance with wonderful characterisation as the show’s ‘baddy’.

Whilst on the subject of dance, I must also congratulate Isla Jones, not only for her fantastic tap routine as the superbly costumed Green Bullfrog but also for her solo performance in Act Two’s Blizzard Ballet.

I must also make mention of the other six ducklings in Ida’s brood who were all so well disciplined as they stood gracefully in line and performed their various routines. So Beaky (Annabelle Chapman), Fluff (India Barnes), Downy (Freya Heywood), Billy (Charlotte Dixon), Quackers (Neve Moore) and Puddles - also the Blizzard Soloist - (Hannah Faul), very well done. You were all quite brilliant and I loved the various costumes you wore over your yellow feathers. There was many a titter from the audience as each of them donned an ‘L’ plate for their first swim in the lake.

From a staging point of view, I was greatly impressed not only with the quality of the settings but how well managed the scene changes were. Before the show actually started, the mood was set with an hilarious reminder to switch our mobile phones off in a very cleverly written rustic announcement. Then, as the house lights dimmed and the main tabs opened, we were greeted with one the most enchanting sets I have seen for a long time with a beautifully painted backcloth of the village farmhouse, ‘Honey Pot Cottage’, in front of which was a large twig-woven nesting place for the new ducklings. A small bridge provided an exit stage right to the lake beyond in which we were warned there was ‘Deep Water’ by a very effective sign and lifebuoy.

The scene changes into the barn and blizzard were also very well handled with the cloths sweeping across the stage from right to left with the greatest of ease. I also loved the ‘toblerones’ on either side of the stage which were skilfully turned to provide three additional aspects to enhance each of the main stage scenes. Many congratulations to the ‘Tuesday Night Gang’ responsible for the set construction and also the stage crew who managed them during the production.

Whilst recalling the blizzard scene, this was a masterpiece of staging with a gauze cloth initially lit as a night time scene with Hannah as the soloist and Isla as the ballet soloist cleverly setting the mood before the cloth became back-lit to reveal the rest of the company all dressed in black and waving white snowflakes and streamers in ultra-violet light behind the gauze to provide a moment of sheer blizzard magic.

All the costumes had been carefully designed and selected to enhance each of the main characters and ensemble in their various guises. The farmyard animals were particularly attractive. I think I even spotted a couple of peacocks! I feel exhausted just thinking about how many costumes and changes there were!

But my final comments, and probably the most important, must go to Director, Ali Parrington, her fellow producers/choreographers Lynda Gough, Jess Keir and Cathy Baker and to Musical Director, Elaine Cook, for their skills and talent in staging this production to such a high theatrical standard. The backing tracks were of very good quality and well controlled as was the sound and the radio sets. The lighting too had been carefully planned and was well operated. I especially liked the clever use of the intelligent lights and gobos to project different patterns onto the stage floor.

Thank you so much for inviting me to your latest production and for your warm welcome. I greatly look forward to making the relatively short journey from Stone to see you all again in the future.

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