Mort

Terry Pratchett's books are very entertaining and wonderful escapism.  This adaptation of "Mort"  for the stage by Stephen Briggs keeps closely to the ethos of that strange universe and its inhabitants and those who are familiar with these works had little problem in adapting to the mores of Discworld and its people.  It was, though,  an excellent idea to help those for whom all this was an alien culture.  This process began as we stepped into the foyer and the folk from the Sheepridge Hiring Fayre mingled amongst us and engaged us in conversation.   Once in the auditorium, this involvement continued, segueing into the play itself and the mood for the evening was set.

A group of four narrators, passers-by really,  stopped just long enough to lead us through the next stage of the story.  This added to the enjoyment and understanding.  These narrators were responsible for some memorable moments of theatre.  When Mort and Ysabell share a picnic in Death's Garden the scene is set with four statues in "Greek" poses.  When at last these "statues" move, tell a little more of the story,  freeze and repeat this several times, there is a subdued gasp from the audience.  This was very cleverly staged, a moment of "Wow".

The casting of "Mort"  was strong with a good range of ages on stage, including some talented children gaining valuable experience.    Many of this large cast were taking on a number of different roles and there was an excellent feeling of teamwork.  The interpretation of Death was so natural.  Apart from his blue-lit eyes, he seemed like a pretty ordinary sort of guy by Discworld standards. It was easy to understand his disenchantment with the job and need for a holiday from it.  It was interesting to follow the journey of Mort from the young, rather shy, jobseeker into the confident young man taking on the role of Death.  Albert, Death's factotum, was played as a grumpy man trying to keep the household in order, the character was held well through the play and then almost at the end we find he is, in fact, a Wizard!  Ysabell and Princess Keli, two somewhat spirited young ladies, were played with a great deal of verve and charm.  They also provided the love interest for Mort and Cutwell.  Igneous Cutwell, a Wizard, was convincing, another strong performance.  All characters were played with enthusiasm and attention to detail.  There were no weak links.

The numerous scene changes, I believe there are more than twenty, have the potential to make the play disjointed but these were well planned and handled seamlessly.  The attention of the audience did not wander.   The simple and most effective scenery was constructed by members of the group. It was a good idea to partly position Binky behind part of the set so that he could appear to ride off with two on his back. 

This was the First Night and I would imagine the cast was suffering from the excessive heat, it was jolly warm in the auditorium and must have been far more so on stage.  The pace was just a little slow and most probably the heat was at least partly responsible.  The sound was good once it had settled down.  Lighting was exciting and added to the atmosphere.  There was a very effective shaft of light when Mort becomes like Death, also a fabulous flash of red light when Albert shows himself to be a Wizard. The costumes were fun and well designed and made by members of the company.

This was a wonderful evening of escapism much enjoyed by the audience.

 

 

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.