The Addams Family

My last visit to DADS was January 2020 before the world changed, as DADS also has. It was therefore good to be back in Downham Town Hall to see a show that had been two years in the making.

This proved to be a show rather like the Curate’s Egg, good in parts. The show got off to an unfortunate start 25 minutes late after some conflicting messages for the reason for the delay, unfortunately we were sat under a very bright green light, which dazzled us at times before the show started. The show itself lacked pace at times, I appreciate that the stage crew was very limited, however the scene changes were not always very slick and it irritated me that I could see through the wings into the back stage room. Sound and volume was generally good although a couple of times there was sound from off stage, disturbing dialogue. Lighting was effective on stage most of the time, which suited the simple set designs and props. Make-up and costumes were correct for the show.

This show revolves around the Addams and the Beineke families and the casting here is quite important, we were unfortunate that for this particular performance Steve Bond who was to perform as Mal Beineke had been taken ill. The role was taken up by director Carrie-Ann Lister and she carried this off well, we were not put off by the fact that she performed with script in hand she clearly knew the show well. Mal’s wife Alice was played by Helen Miles and she handled this change very well. I did enjoy her performance and they both handled the duet ‘In the Arms’ well together, Alice’s solo ‘Waiting’ came across well also she performed well her role in ‘Full Disclosure’.

Two new faces were certainly put through their paces, Paul Critchley as Gomez and Emma Bryan as Morticia were the stars of the show, they complemented each other and worked well together. Their songs were to a good quality, clearly and confidently sung with some stand outs, ‘Where did we go Wrong’, ‘Live before we die’ and ‘Tango de Amor’. These two gave good performances throughout, diction was clear and demeanour on stage was good. Their costumes and make-up were very appropriate and well thought through, their confidence showed throughout their performances and greatly contributed to the show.

The youngsters of the two families were portrayed by three actors, Georgia Smith as Wednesday, who was as good as I expected, confident on stage and nicely sung duets with Pugsley and Lucas.  She is always comfortable in whatever role she takes on and she performed well with the young Pugsley, putting character into her performance, as did Benjamin Critchley as Pugsley. His was also a confident performance with a well sung ‘What If’ and he certainly shows potential as an actor, he obviously takes after his father and, he appeared to enjoy himself. Wednesday’s paramour Lucas Beineke was played by Jack Barry with a certain geekiness, there was duet ‘Crazier than You’ confidently sung but I didn’t feel that there was a great rapport between the two.

Of the remaining roles, Grandma played by Pam Purple could have made a lot more of this character, Lurch played by Michael Bagridge had very little opportunity to make anything of his role by the very nature of his character however these two were made up for by the exuberance of Uncle Fester played by Ian Gooda, his was a performance of confidence and entertainment with more than a touch of comedy and gave us a nicely sung and performed ‘The Moon and Me’.

These were supported by a very small company.

After the trials and tribulations that the society has suffered over the past two years congratulations to them all and particularly to Carrie-Ann for producing this show and bringing it to a live audience.

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.