Part of
January 25, 2007
The Studio Theatre Club describe themselves as ‘a small, friendly group [who] enjoy rehearsing and staging plays and want to do [their] best for their audiences’. They were also, as they rightly point out in their programme for Feet of Clay, the first group to dramatise Pratchett’s work - a noteworthy fact, considering the popularity of Pratchett’s books in modern society. Being shamefully unfamiliar with Pratchett’s books myself, I must admit that – with its obscure sounding characters like the golems in the equally obscure-sounding setting of Ankh-Morpork - I was a little sceptical about how I would get on with the production. I am glad to say, however, that I found I got on with it very well indeed.
Feet of Clay is the nineteenth of Pratchett’s Discworld novels, and is, in its simplest terms, a detective comedy. The comical aspects of the play come through in various ways – not just through Pratchett’s humorous script and choice of character names (Captain Carrot and Nobby Nobbs, for example) – but notably through the actors themselves, who pull off the many one-liners to great effect. Kath Leighton and Sharon Preston are marvellous as Angua the Watch-Werewolf and Cheery Littlebottom respectively, whilst Graham Cook, playing the cockney dim-witted Nobbs, is also superb. A special mention, however, must go to Stephen Briggs, who not only dramatised the production but gives a sublime performance as Lord Vetinari, who is the ruler of Ankh-Morpork, a victim of arsenic poisoning and, moreover, extremely funny.
The Unicorn theatre in Abingdon is small and thus leaves a cast little to work with but this was dealt with very well, with minimal props, effective sound effects and often hilarious background music (including the Star Wars theme tune). The costumes too deserve a special mention – a personal favourite being that of Detritus, the Watch-troll, whose ominous appearance is diminished by his cockney accent and slow-wit. If there was one area of criticism in Feet of Clay, it would probably be a need for editing in the first half of the play, which seemed to take a little while to find its rhythm. However, overall I would thoroughly recommend this play to people of all ages – Discworld readers or not – and congratulate the Studio Theatre Company on a job very well done.
Feet of Clay is the nineteenth of Pratchett’s Discworld novels, and is, in its simplest terms, a detective comedy. The comical aspects of the play come through in various ways – not just through Pratchett’s humorous script and choice of character names (Captain Carrot and Nobby Nobbs, for example) – but notably through the actors themselves, who pull off the many one-liners to great effect. Kath Leighton and Sharon Preston are marvellous as Angua the Watch-Werewolf and Cheery Littlebottom respectively, whilst Graham Cook, playing the cockney dim-witted Nobbs, is also superb. A special mention, however, must go to Stephen Briggs, who not only dramatised the production but gives a sublime performance as Lord Vetinari, who is the ruler of Ankh-Morpork, a victim of arsenic poisoning and, moreover, extremely funny.
The Unicorn theatre in Abingdon is small and thus leaves a cast little to work with but this was dealt with very well, with minimal props, effective sound effects and often hilarious background music (including the Star Wars theme tune). The costumes too deserve a special mention – a personal favourite being that of Detritus, the Watch-troll, whose ominous appearance is diminished by his cockney accent and slow-wit. If there was one area of criticism in Feet of Clay, it would probably be a need for editing in the first half of the play, which seemed to take a little while to find its rhythm. However, overall I would thoroughly recommend this play to people of all ages – Discworld readers or not – and congratulate the Studio Theatre Company on a job very well done.