Wind In The Willows

As a continuation of their 90th anniversary year, Hartley Players chose this timeless masterpiece turned into a musical from the play Toad of Toad Hall. It tells of the fanatical Mr. Toad’s obsession with the new fangled motor car, his brush with the law, subsequent escape from prison dressed as a washer woman and the recapture of Toad Hall, which had been taken over by the evil Weasels from Wild Wood.

Scenery on the confines of the village hall stage meant that curtains were used a lot between scenes and imagination came into play but having said that, with minimal scenery, you could still tell where the action was taking place, whether it be the woods, Toad Hall or even the courtroom. Make-up for the main characters Toad and Badger, Ratty and Mole was good but I would have liked to have seen a little more for the minor ‘animals’. Costumes were fine especially Ratty resplendent in white trousers, striped blazer and boater. Musical accompaniment was provided by a quartet led by Judy Smith on keyboard. I was sitting right by the percussion and my first thought was that this would overwhelm the singing. In fact it didn’t, they managed to keep the volume at a reasonable level - well done. Anne Jennings' choreography was simple but effective as was lighting and sound by Mark Jennings and Drew Connor.

This was a well cast production with good singing voices as well. Andy Noakes as Toad, the larger than life character, threw himself into the part and managed to make us sympathise with him, despite his bad behaviour. Nick Noakes as Badger had a good balance as a strict authority figure whilst still staying approachable. Gill Bacon as Mole was able to show how the timid character gained in confidence and had a good rapport with Ratty, in the safe hands of Yvonne Hegarty. All the minor characters gave good support and I especially liked John Thompson’s portayal of the Judge, he made that character his own and brought out the humour.

You could tell that a lot of hard work and thought had gone into this production and that the cast were enjoying themselves, which, in turn gave us, the audience a lovely fun evening’s entertainment. Mark and his team can be proud. Poop! Poop!   

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