Shrek The Musical Jr

In a time where the arts are being marginalised in schools, it is so important that community theatre companies continue to offer training and performance experiences to children which is what Crigglestone do in abundance through their Kids at Crigg section. It was wonderful to see that their recent production of Shrek The Musical Jr was a total sell out, and after watching it, I can see why. From the start, it really was a Big Bright Beautiful World as we were treated to three very capable narrators (Niamh Biltcliffe, Maddy Wayman and Megan Wiles) along with Beth Buckley, Evie Pretty and Sebbie Smith-Swaine (Mama Ogre, Papa Ogre and Little Ogre) who gave us the back story of Shrek and how he came to live in a swamp by himself.

The stage was then awash with colour and life as a multitude of fairytale characters, who, banished from their home by the tyrannical Lord Farquard arrived at the swamp. Everyone portrayed their characters brilliantly, and although I can’t mention everyone by name, I particularly enjoyed Dottie Turner as Pinocchio and Frankie Binns as Baby Bear who both gave accomplished and confident performances despite their young ages.

Archie Clark gave an energetic performance as the Donkey often being reminiscent of Eddie Murphy in his line delivery. I loved how he was consistent in his physicality of the part and the level of detail that was added such as the repeated use and flexing of the wrists at rest to represent the hooves.

Jodie Hart as the grown Princess Fiona showed confidence and a good awareness of how to use the stage well to deliver and energetic performance. She acted through her songs and added some moments of comedy, particularly with Shrek in ‘I Think I Got You Beat’.

The villain of the show, Lord Farquaad, was played by Emma Hill who gave a confident & exuberant portrayal and must be congratulated for spending the whole show on her knees. It can’t have been easy or comfortable but she never faltered in the characterisation. Her voice projection was first class and I really loved the part where two of the younger members ‘lifted’ her onto their shoulders – a great comedy moment.

For me, the stand out vocal performance of the night was from Isabella Muncanda who really shone as the Dragon. She brought an extra layer of depth and grit to the vocals of the song ‘Forever’ whilst turning the sassiness dial up to maximum at the same time. She is definitely a performer to watch and I can’t wait to see her perform in the future.

The set was minimalist and other than the castle dungeon, fixed in place which meant that the stage was open and could accommodate the whole cast scenes with ease. I also liked how the floor was used as an extension to the set, particularly by the tap dancers in ‘Morning Person’. This was my favourite routine in the show and choreographers, Katie Binns and Rosie Smith did a great job in getting all the tappers to sound like they were just a single dancer, despite some tricky tap steps. The other routines were well drilled and pitched at the right level so that every cast member was able to participate which is not an easy thing to achieve.

This was an ambitious show to take on, but Emma Jeffreys (director) rose to the challenge and, without exception, ensured that all the cast were fully committed to the production. There was so much enthusiasm and passion from every individual, it was hard not to sit grinning from start to finish. As expected with youth performances with such a vast age range, there were differing levels of experience & proficiency within the caste but every person on the stage should be extremely proud of what they collectively achieved. It looked as though every single cast member was having the best time. 

If I was to offer any developmental points for future, I would consider how to ensure transitions between scene changes are a little slicker as sometimes it did feel like we were waiting in black out longer than necessary and also to ensure that the head microphones are positioned correctly as sometimes the quality of the sound meant that some dialogue was not as clear as it potentially could have been. However, this did not detract from the audience’s enjoyment of a great show.

Congratulations to all involved and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

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