Return to the Forbidden Planet

A fantastic open dual level set of the Starship Albatross, complete with staircases, firemen’s poles, safety doors, a very futuristic flight deck complete with large flat screen used for both receiving information and viewing the Universe, several working computer screens, and enough working electronic equipment to safely fly a modern starship, prepared all visitors for an exciting trip. After an information film, an imaginatively and beautifully costumed crew, vaguely reminiscent of the Starship Enterprise, took the audience through the safety procedures for the flight. The show then settled into a series of sections of old rock’n’roll favourites from the 50s and 60s, loosely interwoven with a Shakespearian style dialogue roughly based on ‘The Tempest’ yet having a great number of all those famous quotes we learned at school!  Good and plentiful use of pyrotechnics, together with a sprinkling of balloons representing a meteor shower, all added to the superb spectacle of the show bringing ripples of special applause from the audience. There wasn’t a weak member of this cast/crew, although if there is any criticism to be made it was that some of the spoken diction was indistinct through some of the American accents therefore some story was lost.  All musical numbers zipped along at a foot tapping pace very ably accompanied by the band, underscoring and musical interjections perfectly timed, and the styles of song well suited to the performer, in particular Sara Rhodes (Gloria) and Andrew Toothill (Cookie).  Nathan Hall (Ariel) was outstanding, his metallic costume and make-up very futuristic, the robotic way in which  he delivered his lines was enhanced by  the fact that every move he made was flawlessly executed on roller skates. The simple yet very effective ‘Pan’s People’ style of Choreography well fitted dancers, chorus and principals alike, was never monotonous (hard with so many musical numbers) and a joy to watch. The real stars of the show however I feel were the ‘backroom’ boys and girls working with the Director – the people who designed, built and painted that fantastic set, the people who worked out the effective lighting and sound effects, the pyro designers who got it just right, the makers and designers of the uniform costumes for the Principals and chorus as well as the large number of wonderfully drilled dancing girls with their psychedelic wigs and white stocking boots which would have emphasised every wrong move (of which there were none).

The evening was a very enjoyable spectacle of sight and sound – what a pity more people hadn’t braved the bad weather to enjoy it.

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