WINNIE THE WITCH: Paul & Thomas, Adapt Clark, Bham Rep till 12 January

Birmingham

WINNIE THE WITCH: Stories by Korky Paul and Valerie Thomas, Adapted by Anthony Clark
Music: Mark Vibrans
Birmingham Rep (The Door): Tkts: 0121 236 4455

Runs: 1h 40m, one interval, till Sat 12 January 2002
Review: Rod Dungate, 10 December 2001

The unique quality of the stories is carefully retained in this adaptation, Winnie is brought beautifully to life by Elizabeth Marsh, in a production that will enthral all fans, big and small, of the originals
Winnie the Witch is delightfully brought to stage life by Elizabeth Marsh in this adaptation by Anthony Clark. There are few small children who will not know of Winnie and her cat Wilbur and there must be more than a few adults (big and small) who share their children's pleasure in the deliberately quirky stories by Korky Paul and Valerie Thomas. In his adaptation Clark has gone to considerable pains to retain the feel of the originals: Rachel Blues reflects this too and has wittily risen to the set demands of the stories within the confines of a studio theatre.

Elizabeth Marsh is a wonderful Winnie. Looking pretty much like Korky Paul's illustrations – amazing what acting can do! – she has an easy going and friendly manner that encourages the young audience to listen to her. Her personality fills the space effortlessly: importantly she does not patronise the children, trying to enter their world, but invites them to enter hers – good practice for a habit we hope they will grow into as adults entering many play worlds.

Marsh is aided and abetted by a multi talented company of four who play some 20 musical instruments between them.

A hidden star of the show must be Craig Denston. He's responsible for the many and varied puppets, also operated by the actors: these include Croc, Snout, Stripe, Comb, various birds and a bat (there may be more than one) and Wilburs in black, green and yellow/red/purple/blue.

The show, a rapid series of short episodes, is perfect for younger children with some user-friendly songs the icing on this festive cake.

Cast:
Wilbur the Cat: Mak Wilson
Winnie the Witch: Elizabeth Marsh
Ice Cream Seller: Philip Bateman
Optician: Kelly O'Leary
Dead-Eyed Pirate Paul: Nicholas Tigg

Director: Anthony Clark
Designer: Rachel Blues
Lighting: Tim Mitchell and Symon Harner
Musical Director: Philip Bateman
Puppets made by: Craig Denston

2001-12-11 20:33:32