The Witches started life as a book, by Roald Dahl, but was adapted, by children's theatrician, David Wood, into New Theatre's latest summer holiday production.When one is reminded that 'a real witch gets as much pleasure from squelching a child as you, from eating a plate of strawberries & cream', one is reminded that in darkness, it falls somewhere between Grimm and grimmer.
But as well as being downright frightening, it also raises chortles; the deeply imaginative tale (maybe Dahl had too much Leicestershire & port before bedtime; or, better yet, something even more hallucinogenic) of a 7-year-old boy, apparently named boy (not quite so imaginative) who confronts a coven of witches. Squelchers, not welchers. for, as we all know, or should, 'in fairytales, witches wear silly black hats, or cloaks, and ride on broomsticks'. But this isn't a fairytale. It's more Blair, than Witchypoo. This is about real witches, who routinely dress in ordinary clothes and look very much like ordinary women. They live in ordinary houses and they work in ordinary jobs. That is why they're so hard to catch.
Was there any misogyny on Dahl's behalf? I think not. These chicks are empowered. They just happen to hate children. They'd rather have LSD, than IVF.
Directed by Paul Appleby & Spiros Hristias (the latter also lights), with, frankly, unaesthetic, if deviously utilitarian, set design, by Mignon Miller, better costume and makeup, courtesy Cass Pascoli and resoundingly brilliant audio, by the aptly-named Mike Newtown, The Witches can seem a little too much of its time and unrelentingly gothic, for a juvenile audience, methinks.
Cast, which comprises Lindsey Chapman, Harley Connor, Kris Hagen, Emma Harris, Ruth Horsfall, Alice Keohavong, Sergej Kozul, Lara Lightfoot, Amy Robertson, Jeremy Rosenstrauss, Martin Schultz-Moller and Sandy Velini veers between outstanding, commendable, dependable and bog ordinary. When they're good, they're very very good, as in the Grand High Witch Of The World, devilishly masquerading as CEO of the RSPCC (Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children). Indeed, all the witches cackles crackled.
One of the most enthralling features is the cadence of Dahl's language, which proves as visceral as the rather spectacular action; in this production, enhanced no end by a trickbag of sfx, largely delivered by video sequences. Witness: in relation to the witch, 'her mind will always be plotting and scheming and churning and burning and whizzing and phizzing with murderous, bloodthirsty thoughts'.
All concerned have done a magical, almost filmically seamless job of persuading boys were really turned into mice and the mouse-eye-view was a scenic stroke of genius, despite my reservations about art direction.
Somehow, though, this production, for all its strengths, & magic, didn't quite connect with me or, if my observation was in anyway accurate, the audience at large. (Mind you, there were about as many adults there as kids, if not more, for whatever reason.) The strange things is, I can't really put my finger on the reasons. I've a creeping feeling the director and cast aren't quite convinced of their own capacities to deliver. If so, they shouldn't worry so. Rather, take a leaf out of Showtime, at The Ensemble: confidence is cool! Not believing in yourself should be squished and squiggled and made to disappear.
Suffice to say I wasn't quite spellbound.
Mind you, I didn't hate it, with a red-hot, sizzling hatred, more sizzling & red-hot than any hatred you could possibly imagine. I relished the tale and, especially, the telling. It just seemed a little remote and disconnected from its audience. Not a good look, in kids' theatre, particularly. But for $17 a ticket, mild disenchantment is easy to bear.
New Theatre presents
The Witches
by Roald Dahl, adapted by David Wood
Directed by Paul Appleby and Spiros Hristias
Venue: 542 King Street Newtown 2042
Dates: 10 – 24 January 2009
Times: Wednesday – Friday @ 1pm; Saturday/Sunday @ 11am & 2pm
Tickets: $17 / $14 (groups 10+) / $10 (preview Sat 10 January @ 11am)
Bookings: 1300 306 776 / www.mca-tix.com.au
