Saying Goodbye

On entering The Swan Theatre, which is a beautiful little venue by the way, the first thing the audience noticed was the staging that had gone on in the foyer.  The front of house staff were dressed in war-time clothing (either as a member of the military or as a civilian).  This was a lovely touch and it helped set the scene for the audience from the get-go.  Another fantastic idea, was the fact that the obligatory raffle was laid out as if it was also being held in the 1940s, complete with authentic old time raffle prizes donated by the characters that we were about to see on the stage.  The best prize was undoubtedly the tin of spam donated by Nitty Nora the Nit Nurse!

In the auditorium, but not on the stage, was a very authentic looking old street lamp.  This looked good, if not a little out of place to start with.  However, as the play progressed it was obvious that this was a very important piece of the staging and was used whenever the story narrator spoke to the audience.  It was also used for the occasional scene that took place off of the stage as well, which really helped pull the show off the stage making it more interactive for the audience. 

I am always very impressed when I get the opportunity to see a show that has been written by one of the company and this one was also special as it also featured five original songs, with music written by Harry Haden-Brown.  The story was a twee little adventure yarn, very much in the vain of The Famous Five, involving eight children stumbling upon a spy plot that could jeopardise the entire war effort.  The story was set in the Dorset village of Sherborne and dealt with several young evacuees from Coventry and their efforts to fit in.  However, even though the story dealt with eight main antagonists, there never seemed to be all eight children together again, a fact that was never really explained fully.

The staging for this production was quite minimal, which was probably for the best as there were so many scene changes (a total of 25 in the whole production).  Having minimal staging helped, in the most part, to keep the story moving along as did the use of the auditorium (as an extra staging arena) as did splitting the stage into three layers of depth.  However, not all the scene changes were done swiftly and a few of them could have been sped up by happening whilst the audience were distracted elsewhere, a big example being whilst the narrator was talking.  This had the effect of slowing down the pace a little, although it probably didn’t help that you were a stagehand down that day.

The sound for this production was great and every line could be heard perfectly, it certainly helped that the quality of diction on show from the younger cast members, would have put many adult societies to shame.  The lighting was also good and everything was as I would have imagined it to be.  The blackout on stage, whilst the light was emanating from the street light was a particularly good effect.  It was not obvious if make-up was used (and it wasn’t mentioned in the programme) but either way the actors looked fine.  I only really notice make-up if the cast look as pale as Casper or as bright as an Oompah Loompah, and in this production none of these were relevant.

The costumes looked great and completely embodied the era that the play was set in.  The evening that I came to watch the show was marked as being the second hottest day in the UK ever, and I have to take my hat off to all those actors that managed to wear all those hot woolly clothes, under the hot stage lights, in front of the heat from an audience and on the second hottest day ever!  If any of them were struggling, then you wouldn’t have known it – well done what professionalism.

As mentioned, this production featured five new songs written for this show.  The songs were well written and really fitted the show well, I particularly liked “When Gerry’s on the Run”.  The singing, mostly by the younger cast members, was good and it was clear that some time had been spent during rehearsals practicing melodies and harmonies.  However, a few parts of the songs did seem a little tricky to hit the right notes but, in the main, the cast did a sterling job.

One thing I have come to expect from a Castaway’s production is multiple casting, and this production was no different, with a different set of children on the Wednesday and Friday then on the Thursday and Saturday.  This must have placed a challenge on the production crew and the cast but, again, you would never know and apart from a little spot where some of the actors looked a little unsure and some lines were repeated, everything ran pretty smoothly.

The adult actors all played their parts well and characterisations were very strong, especially impressive was Gary Hewitt in his multiple roles of Narrator; Mr Jones and Winston Churchill.  However, this story was seen through the eyes of the children and all the younger actors did a fantastic job of portraying their roles.  Special mention must go to Harrison Caine, who pretty much had to carry the whole production as the lead character of David.  Harrison fielded this responsibility with a maturity that outshone his young years and showed a quality that many an actor would have been jealous of (especially under the record breaking temperature conditions as well).  However, the stand out performer on the night had to be Owen Williams who played local boy and initial evacuee hater, William.  Owen played this part well and managed to make William both unlikeable and then likeable in equal amounts, not an easy task!

Overall, this was a very fine evening of entertainment and it is always a privilege to be able to watch a new production having its debut run.  Full of some great performances(especially from the incredibly talented youngsters), new songs and great WOW Factor in the foyer what was not to like. 

May I add a final congratulation to Lynn Lee Brown, who deserves so many plaudits for not only envisaging the whole thing but also bringing it all together.  Well done to you all.

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