Winnie the Pooh - KIDS

“Winnie the Pooh – KIDS” is an adaptation of the original story by A A Milne set to music for the Disney film of the same name.  The story is very well-known and well-loved by people of all ages, so any changes would be clearly noted.  On the other hand, the characters are already well established and the songs are well known from the film, so the show would be familiar in many ways.  I was interested to see how much was adapted and how much was new in this production.

The staging made good use of the space available, with a pit and a rose bush down stage left by the steps and some lovely woodland scenery as a backdrop. The direction post down stage right was very well constructed, with a strong tree trunk and a variety of finger posts showing the way to the characters’ homes.  I liked the way that Owl’s pointed upwards!  The invention of the Backson was very well played out.  It took a while to realise it was Owl’s misreading of Christopher Robin’s note, but it was done very well. So many people falling into the Backson trap was lovely, as was the inventive escape towards the end.

The animal costumes were great, and clearly showed who was who.  This must have been useful in helping the young people find their characters, with Tigger’s bounciness, Owl’s seriousness and Rabbit’s sense of fun.  When forming a tableau at the end of a scene the colourful costumes really came into their own.  It was a lovely idea to have a ‘meet the characters’ opportunity in the interval!

The musical accompaniment was pre-recorded and fitted well to the script.  The singing of the cast was very good, with the songs well known and thoroughly enjoyed by all.  For parts of the script and certain song lines, however, the mics seemed to be a bit unreliable during the show so occasionally the words were not very clear.    There were some rather wide variations in volume at times, but the cast managed them very well.  Might it have been a good idea to provide a mic at the back of the stage, for the speaking chorus?  The choreography was very good.  To get a large number of people moving together as you did was excellent – and I suspect not easy!  There were some very inventive moves and the speed at which they were executed was remarkable in places.  It is so nice when choreography fits the music as well as it did here.

The whole cast was impressive in playing their characters to the full – despite a couple of tired bees (after the matinee).   There was always a real sense of fun in the production, accompanied by good energy levels onstage.   It was an absolute joy to see these young people working together so well and having such a good time!

Main characters:

Winnie the Pooh: I loved the way you sang out “pooh” as a solo line in the song “Winnie the Pooh”!  That takes courage and it was well done.  You showed good stage presence and confidence throughout the show.  Well done!

Christopher Robin: This is not an easy part to play as it is human and not animal. However, you played it very well and had a strong clear voice with good script delivery.  Well done.

Piglet: Pooh’s great friend came across as exactly that: friendly, quiet, sunny and cheerful.  This was a lovely character and well played!

Tigger: This was a lovely energetic playing of a very bouncy character.  The bouncing with excitement was just right and very well maintained.  Well done!

Kanga and Roo: These were smaller parts but very well played.  I did wonder if Roo might have been a little naughtier – but then I am thinking of the book.

Rabbit: This was a lovely part that was very well played, with an enormous sense of fun. 

Owl: This was a lovely and slightly sombre playing of this character, which totally fitted in with the storyline.  Well done!

Eeyore: I liked the amount of gloom given this character, in vocal delivery and body language.  Well done! 

 However, the most remarkable part of the show was the way that everyone was fully involved in presenting the story and created clear characters for themselves.  It was also good to hear that the young people were working backstage as well as onstage, in designing and preparing the stage and scenery, directing, choreographing, ushering, selling raffle tickets and working in lighting and sound.  This is most impressive. I feel this will form excellent experience for the young people in their future lives and is a credit to the whole Society.

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