Shrek The Musical

SHREK THE MUSICAL is based on the Dreamworks Animation Motion Picture and the book by William Steig.    It is an amiable musical full of life, colourful characters and wonderful songs.   Shrek and his fairy tale character neighbour are to be evicted unless Shrek undertakes a task for the landlord, Lord Farquaad.   The story is funny as well as touching and although probably the entire audience knew the story, there was a lot of fun to be had along the ride to the satisfying conclusion.

The sets were excellent and very realistically created and beautifully painted, bursting with colour from the greenery of the forest and swamp to the pastel pink of the castle.      The set dressings were all appropriate and well chosen, and the props were amazing, ranging in size from the white sticks for the blind mice to Lord Farquaad’s horse and the Dragon, the latter two bringing gasps from the audience.  Many smaller props such as the exploding bird shortly after the interval also deserve a mention as well as Pinocchio’s expanding nose.     Princess Fiona’s transformation that took place behind gauze was ingenious.     

The make-up was excellent.   Shrek’s make up/prosthetic was stunning and was close to the film original.    There were many wigs for the guards, the Duloc Dolls and various fairy tale characters.      

The costumes were fantastic and of high quality and well fitting.  There was great attention to detail such as the wooden appearance of Pinocchio’s legwear.  The costumes were bold but well balanced. This was a large cast with a variety of costumes and numerous changes.  It was obvious a lot of thought and hard work had gone into creating the looks.   Lord Farquaad’s costumes were cleverly design to give the impression of his diminutive stature.   The appearance of the fairy tale characters was an absolute burst of colour and a delight to look at.       

The lighting was effective throughout and well controlled.  I particularly liked the enhanced blue sky filtering through the greenery of the forest.  Excellent music from the live band blended well with the first class vocal skills of the performers.  The sound – on the night I attended – seemed loud and this meant that, occasionally, some clarity was lost in dialogue.

Under the direction of Sally Manning, this was musical theatre at its happiest.  The comic banter between Shrek and Donkey was terrific with both of them rising to the challenge of breaking through costume and make up with strong performance.   Richard Bond’s energy as Donkey was at bursting point and this contrasted well with the laid back nature of Reece Fitzgerald’s Shrek.   His irritation that turned into friendship with Donkey was heart warming.  Louise Travis as Princess Fiona was graceful as well as hilarious when dealing with the lavatorial humour her role demanded.   Ben Kennedy deserves special praise for doing his entire performance, as Lord Farquaad, on his knees.   His body language and facial expressions were perfect and had the audience roaring with laughter every time he appeared.    Everyone in the ensemble was brilliant including the youngsters who took on the roles of Young Shrek, Young Fiona and Teenage Fiona.  I wish I could mention everyone.   I would like to have seen more of the fairy tale characters.  Overall the show was filled with fun and exuberance and memorable performances.  A highlight for me was the feet dressed as rats shown under the slightly raised curtain giving the impression of rats following the Pied Piper.     

Well done to all at BATS for sending everyone home buzzing and with smiles on their faces. 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.