Oliver!

I returned to The Daneside Theatre this evening to see Congleton Amateur Youth Theatre’s production of Oliver.  This is my third review of Oliver this year and my second in a week.  I really enjoy the show it’s really nice to see how each society puts their stamp on this classic by Lionel Bart.

The director for this production was Louise Colohan.  Louise is no stranger to direction, having directed CAYT’s production of Elf which won the NODA award last year for best male youth comedy performance.  Louise staged this version as a traditional tale.  The set, costumes, lighting and props were all sympathetic to the tradition and helped the audience be transported to the era, from the opening curtain.  I really liked Louise’s vision and the overall staging.  The set was fantastic.  It enabled the actors to have many entrances and exits which were used very well throughout.  I do question which door Oliver entered through at the end of the show as it was referred to in the previous scene as Fagin’s.  There were a few other directorial decisions that I wondered about.  Such as the changing of tempos of music and playing around with the script.  Whilst I understand the reasons for doing so, I’m not sure if they all worked.  However, I must admit, some of the cuts helped with the overall pace which was very good.  I commend Louise and her team for the great characterisation and storytelling – something that goes a-miss when putting on a production of Oliver!

Choreography was by Louise Carter and Sam Sherliker.  The choreography was in-keeping with the era and the overall style.  I felt that the cast could’ve been challenged a little more with more intricate choreography but with the limited spacing I’m not sure if this could’ve worked as well.  All actors were very well rehearsed in choreography.

Musical Direction was conducted by Mike Richardson.  Lots of the tempos of the songs were much faster than normal.  Although this helped with pace, for me, it didn’t work.  There were quite a few ‘bum’ notes played, and for me, the vocals of the cast were the weakest link.  Having a small three-piece band helped give this production a more intimate feel but using tracks and a keyboard/synthesiser meant that it wasn’t sympathetic to the traditional style.  I also didn’t like the changes to the music that took us away from the score, such as the ending of ‘Food Glorious Food’.

The set for this production was brilliant.  Whilst being visually stunning, it gave height, various locations, countless entrances and exits and was used very well throughout.  I particularly loved the curtain and fireplace etc for Fagin’s Den.  The costumes, props, make-up and wigs were also very good.  I appreciate that it must be hard having to age children to play adults but CAYT and their teams did this very well.  I thought that the costumes were great and the make-up and facial hair etc for Fagin was great too.  Scene changes were generally good for the small wing space that the Daneside has.

The lights were very good.  I love the downlights that were used throughout, particularly the blue downlights that bounced off the steps from the upper level.  This helped give the piece and eerie feel whilst keeping it well lit for the audience to see the action.  I quite liked that some of the scenes at the beginning of the show were in near darkness.  Whilst I’m not sure if this was intentional or not, it seemed to create a good atmosphere and helped the audience to be transported back to the time period.

Sound was generally good.  I felt that the band were a little too noisy but I’m being very picky.  Overall, I could hear all actors clearly and the balance between band, cast and audience was good.

Oliver was played by Charlie House.  Charlie was suitably sweet and very much looked the part.  Charlie was a good storyteller and was very confident on stage.  There were times when pitch became an issue, particularly during ‘Where is Love’ but the audience enjoyed his performance.

Dodger was played by Oliver Rhodes.  I can tell that Oliver is a very good actor and he did well in this role.  However, I felt that it was under-played a little too much; a little too naturalistic.  I suspect that Oliver would make a great television actor.  Oliver certainly looked the part and had a great rapport with Nancy, which is sometimes missing from productions.

Fagin was brilliantly played by William Vickers.  I have had the pleasure of seeing William perform before and he is a fantastic character actor.  I love watching William perform.  He commands the stage, takes his time and performs with great interpretation.  William was great casting for this role and all of his physical attributes that he brought to this role did not go un-noticed by me.

Nancy was greatly played by Ceris Griffiths.  At times, Nancy can be over-played and over-sung.  Not in this production.  Ceris brought a fantastic energy to the stage and a fresh version of this iconic role.  Whilst Ceris was a little pitchy and unsupported in her song ‘As Long As He Needs Me’, I didn’t care as she acted her way through this!  Far too many actresses think the emphasis should be on the vocals and not on the storytelling and I thank the director and Ceris for the brilliant storytelling tonight.

Bill was played by Alex Wilson.  Alex did well for a boy his age and held his own.  He was suitably scary and brought a good physicality to the role.  I felt that he had a good rapport with his fellow actors and he did well to try and convey his story.  There were certain moments when I lost diction and articulation, but I suspect that this was down to the strong accent.

Mr Bumble was played by Oscar Eckersley.  Oscar did very well in this role – better than some adults that I have seen!  Oscar had excellent diction, articulation and projection and was a great storyteller.  I enjoyed his song ‘I shall Scream’ with Widow Corney.

Widow Corney was played by Amy Fitzgerald.  I really enjoyed Amy’s performance and felt that she found a lot of humour within the script.  Amy had a great rapport with Oscar and they really worked well together on-stage.  Well done!

Mr Sowerberry and Mrs Sowerberry were played by Alex Wilson and Hannah Bleackley.  Both actors found the humour within the text and were suitably good storytellers.  I liked the way that Hannah used her voice to convey her character.

There are far too many other roles for me to mention in this review.  Overall, this production was visually very good.  I felt that the overall acting and storytelling was brilliant, the choreography was very good but that the vocals needed a lot more work.  The set, costumes, and technical elements such as make-up and lights etc made this show visually very good.  Well done to this great cast of young actors.  I genuinely thought that your storytelling was great, and the audience certainly enjoyed it very much.  Well done to CAYT and their inclusive cast and team for another great production.  I look forward to coming back again to see your 2019 productions such as The Fantastic Mr Fox!

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.