The Witches of Eastwick

The Witches of Eastwick tells the story of three divorcees who, being fed up with their lot in life, wish for their perfect man. They live in a small rather parochial village which is ‘over lorded’ by one bossy and downright impossible woman. Into the equation came a bewitching stranger with unique powers who had no difficulty seducing the three lonely women.  Paul Bryant as Darryl Van Horne was superlative in this role vocally, visually and character wise. No wonder he captured the hearts of all three of them. Their new and rather liberal lifestyle scandalises the local townsfolk. The three ‘witches’, Michelle Briant (Alexandra Spofford), Joanne Idle (Jane Smart) and Debbie McLean (Sukie Rougemont) were undeniably the stars of the show. They were very convincing in their individual roles but together they were truly outstanding. Their harmonious singing was expert and their transformation from ordinary housewives to erotic sex symbols had a touch of ‘witchery’. In fact the chemistry between them was superb and their rendition of ‘Make him Mine’ was a show stopper. There was a strong performance from Melinda Lawrence as the self appointed first lady of Eastwick, Felicia Gabriel. Her sickness bouts of balls and feathers were achieved effortlessly and her death was cleverly staged and I loved the portrayal of her downtrodden husband Clyde, by Rob Thurgood. The pairing of Becki Burtenshaw (Jennifer Gabriel) and Archie Caine (Michael Spofford) was lovely. They were charming together and their singing of ‘Something’ was heavenly while Gareth Knox (Fidel) raised great mirth from the audience whenever he appeared, as he flamboyantly minced across the stage in some outrageous costumes! The imaginatively choreographed chorus numbers were all enthusiastically performed especially the energetic, impassioned and steamy ‘Dance with the Devil’, an outstandingly performed opening number, Eastwick Knows’, and by far my favourite, ‘Dirty Laundry’. The sets and props were great as were the lighting and resounding sound effects and the use of projected scenes onto a backcloth. Added to this the flying of the witches was spectacularly clever.. Credit must go not only to the ‘witches’ but also to the backstage crew for their expertise not just for this, but for all their input. The orchestra was magnificent and the direction over all quite outstanding.  My congratulations to everyone involved.

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