The Addams Family Values

This is the second Society in the District that has put a brand-new team together and given youth a chance - brave and looking to investing in the future of Amateur Theatre. HATS Production team are Louise Gaffney and Sam Hill who take on the challenge of this show ‘The Addams Family Values, Young edition.’ Louise Gaffney in the role of Director and Sam Hill as Musical Director and Choreographer.

The set was appropriate and gave the flavour of the Addams family home, with headstones and all the weird trappings that go with Halloween style on the stage and apron sides of the stage. Costumes looked good and fitted the characters as did Make-up and Hair. Lighting added to the feel of the show but I did feel Sound could have been better as, for some of the characters, I couldn’t hear what some were saying or at some points the mic wasn’t working - hopefully first night gremlins.

Morticia Addams was played by Yzzy Heyes and you could see her growing in confidence through the performance, I loved the vogue-like poses she created - even down to her finger tips. Lovely performance - one to watch.

Gomez Addams played by Adam Grealish had the accent down to a tee and played the man very much in love with his wife extremely well. Adam and Yzzy worked very well together.

Zach Hill playing Lurch had great characterisation and physicality even down to the grunting – a very watchable performance for someone with no actual lines.

Wednesday Addams played by Alice Bentham - a difficult part when the character is so dour but she handled it very well and gave her Wednesday some depth. Also working well in partnership with Kurtis Greenhalgh who played Lucas Beineke. Kurtis brought an energy to the morbid family and the colour contrast worked in costume and hair.

Uncle Fester played by Dylan Hankinson was also another actor who blossomed in performance as he gained confidence. The rest of the cast worked well and, although first time on stage for some, there were definitely a few stars of the future to watch. This was a relatively small cast but at all times they filled the stage and looked to be enjoying themselves. I must mention one of the Ancestors Millie Collins who was an absolute delight to watch and really animated - I hope to see more of her. Well done cast and hats off to HATS for investing in and giving us a glimpse of the future of Amateur Theatre. Thank you for making my guest and I welcome.

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