The Wind in the Willows: The Musical

This was a delightful production, full of lovely creative touches that made all the difference to the impact of the drama. To be greeted by the floor painted as a woodland glade with a stream running through it was magical, while the giant bull rushes all around the audience area gave a real sense of inclusion in the action. The position of the orchestra behind the floor area worked very well, with just the steps between the two.  The script was very well put together and kept closely to the original story while also allowing scenes to run together smoothly.  The music was delightful and very well played, supporting the large cast of singers very well, while the sound effects were just right in volume and tone with good cueing. Lighting was very good, with subtle changes creating a sense of menace or spring sunshine.

However, it was the staging that made the show so memorable: the boats that ran along the stream, the ingenious caravan, sports car and barge; the small touches that created various sets, such as the picnic area and Badger’s study, were all very well planned and executed.  The projected backdrops worked very well, as the scenes changed from woodland to Toad Hall and the jail, while the small cut-outs were highly effective.  The props were good and gave a real lift to the show, such as the swimming ring used to confine the prisoners, the manacles, the picnic baskets, the fruit, the worms and the small additions to the costumes.

The costumes were superb, with the hedgehogs and their long prickles, the rabbits with their bright white tails and Toad in his green suit.  The effect when combined with face makeup was very good, as in the tableaux that formed, the mix of colours looked very cheerful.   The colour co-ordination of the groups of animals worked brilliantly: the brown hedgehogs and foxes, grey otters, pale brown rabbits, and the black of the stoats and weasels helped no end in sorting out the character groups.  It was good to see that these groups included people of different ages to create believable families of animals, while the foxes, stoats and weasels were more like teenage gangs.  Everyone played their part to the full and were very well disciplined in holding expressions and postures at times.  The choreography was very good indeed, with some lovely moves for the Wild Woodlanders and good general dance moves for the company that everyone could do.

This was a highly creative production that even early in the run was slick and very well staged, colourful and positive, with some wonderful leading characters recreating the timeless story beautifully.  Many congratulations! 

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