The Witches of Eastwick

The Witches of Eastwick tells of three bored women who live in the small quiet town of Eastwick in Rhode Island, New England.  The town is ‘ruled’ by bossy Felicia until the arrival of Darryl Van Horne.

Mark Williams as Darryl had great charisma and use of body language along with a good voice. Maybe this was how he captured the hearts of the women in the village as in turn he seduces and manipulates them. Each of the seduction scenes were suitably well played.  His acting during the voodoo doll scene at the wedding was impressive.

The three witches Louise Walton (Alexandra), Lisa Lilwall (Jane) and Danielle Purkess (Sukie) played their characters with great conviction. They each played their individual scenes well with Darryl as well as the scenes when they were together.  Musically they were all well accomplished during individual numbers such as ‘Words, Words, Words. However, it was when the three voices came together in ‘Make Him Mine’ and ‘I Wish I May’ we heard their true quality. Their singing was harmonious and the acting throughout was equally good.

Bossy Felicia played by Penny Hoy and Tim Eagleton as her downtrodden husband Clyde were perfectly mismatched together. They both gave strong performances. The scenes during which Felicia coughs up items such as a tennis ball and feathers were well staged and believable. Equally well matched were Mollie Hallahan (Jennifer) and Paul Mitchell (Michael) who were charming together and sang equally well.  Also worth a mention is Kelly-Louise Mitchell who as Girl sang some annoying songs well.

The band under the leadership of Joe George accompanied the cast well and enabled the cast to be heard when signing. The chorus numbers such as ‘Dirty Laundry’ and ‘Dance with the Devil’ were well sung. The choreography was enthusiastically performed with energy.

The set was effective with a permanent backdrop of the church and good use of other pieces of set such as each of the witches and Felicia’s houses.   In Darryls’ house at the end of act one we were able to witness to good effect the witches fly. Well done for achieving this visual effect so well.

Redditch Operatic need to be congratulated for bringing this challenging piece of musical theatre to the stage.  A big thank you at all for making us so welcome.

Andy Brown district 12.

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