Shrek

This was my second experience of West Bromwich Operatic Society (WBOS) after witnessing the company storm the stage with a very impressive show of Calendar Girls The Musical, earlier in March. I was excited to visit The Wolverhampton Grand Theatre again which had a wonderful enthusiastic atmosphere tonight. I observed a keen audience who had much joy and excitement before, during and after the show! I also had the pleasure of sitting near one of the designers of The Shrek Programme, Sally Jones, and the pleasure to meet again with Kath Trigg (Secretary to WBOS). Thank you for your warm welcome.

Directed and Choregraphed by Mike Capri with Assistant Director and Choreographer Adam Partridge, the well-known adventure of Shrek was brought alive on stage with some wonderful characterisation.

The story of Shrek is familiar to many. After Shrek’s swamp is invaded by fairy tale characters who had been evicted by Lord Farquaad, Shrek goes in search of Lord Farquaad to demand his swamp back. On his way, he meets a talking Donkey who is an annoying travel companion but ends up being a trusted friend. Shrek wins the deeds to the swamp after Lord Farquaad (true to his word) hands them over, but first Shrek has to complete a “Teeny Weeny” favour for him. This favour was to carry out a daring rescue of Princess Fiona from a high tower guarded by a dragon. Horrible Lord Farquaad only wished to marry Fiona to become King, but it was Shrek and Fiona who fell in love and eventually lived happily ever after.

Shrek was played by John Wetherall and he was an absolute perfect choice to play the title character. He had spectacular presence and maintained a strong character throughout, delivering a brilliant and consistently great performance. Another incredible casting was Theo Pitter who played Donkey. Theo had so much energy, stamina and power on stage he instantly stood out with his playful and positive deliverance. Together they worked as the unlikely friendship grew convincingly before the audience’s eyes; as they survived and bonded over a dangerous journey. There were many nice touches where Shrek showed affection and support to Donkey, and other moments where Shrek realised he was being unreasonable and sought-after Donkey’s forgiveness. Both actors had stunning voices and both complimented each other so well.

Princess Fiona was also excellently played by Emily Smith with the right amount of quirkiness, intensity and sometimes “scary” portrayal. Emily had exceptional comedy timing and was a true pleasure to watch as she owned almost every scene she was in. Her performance in the song “Morning Person” was a perfect example of her talent. Between Shrek, Donkey and Fiona there were some memorable moments which were performed so well; The challenge in keeping the relationship and connection between the three main characters on stage appeared flawless and perfectly natural. John, Theo and Emily showed great team work. 

I felt the star of the show was Simon Pugh who played Lord Farquaad. Simon also had exceptional comedy timing and delivered his many classic lines with moments of pure skill alongside his excellent facial and silly expressions. He used his many instincts on stage which led to a very talented performance.

Speaking of silly, The Captain of the Guard (Andrew Bird) also gave a great performance dominating his scenes with excellent physical comedy and timing with the other guards joining in.

A huge special mention goes to Holly Edwards (Young Fiona) and Madison Jeffs (Teen Fiona). Potentially this could have been a challenge in regard to casting but again the combination worked very well. Holly, Madison and Emily performed a great song “I Know It’s Today” and all voices were just fantastic.

Tasheka Cole who played The Dragon (and The Mad Hatter) also had an outstanding voice and added a new energy to the show when she powerfully performed her song, ”Forever”.

Actually, every time the group of brilliant fairy tale characters came onto the stage, the show went up a level. There were far too many characters to mention them all but there were many stand-alone performances, to name but a few, Mama Bear (Amy Sandford), Pinocchio (Holly White) and Gingy (Kim Graystone).

I enjoyed this production of Shrek very much and I don’t think l will ever get bored of the fart and burp jokes. It was very different show to Calendar Girls of course but it showed the versatility and talent of a wonderful bunch of musical theatre actors, performers, crew and artistic team. WBOS are a very talented company.

I am looking forward to seeing West Bromwich Operatic Society Youth Company take on Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical next at The Dormston Mill Theatre, running from 10th-12th November 2022. 

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