Can we see it again please dad?!? This was the question I was faced with after taking my two young girls to see Wind in the Willows. This was a great show filled with humour and vigour that reminded me of the good old days of England where the only things to worry about were on the river that day and if you were likely to be run down by a toad with a penchant for motoring.
There are simply too many to go into here who desreve credit but mentions must go to Nicola Blake's mole who made me think that the original may have been a girl. This was a great bit of casting that put a new spin on the classic tale and Blake's performance was great to watch and had my youngest claiming she wanted to be like mole when she grows up! Also Ashley Harvey's Toad who bounced around the stage with such excitement amd gusto that the humourous moments were highlighted to a greater extent. It may seem an easy job to run around a stage acting like a buffoon but it takes a very great actor to be able to draw out as many comedic elements as he did. Also Badger played with great weight by Daniel Halsall - he was just superb and made a lovely kind old badger who my children warmed to instantly much in the same way mole did. And Ben Watts' Albert, a droll sarcastic horse, need I say more? Well done Mr Watts!
After all of this praise I feel the overall ovation must go to the young director Katherine Rudd. In her programme notes (which were beautifully and intelligently written) she claimed to be a "newbie" to direction. This did not show at all. There was not one part of the performance that didn't seem like it had been gone over with a fine-toothed comb. The relationships all merged fantastically and effortlessly and it whisked my two young daughters (and me I dare say) away into its own world for two and a half hours, which I felt flew by! Each character was incredibly individual and the wild wood scene had my youngest cowering under my arm: no small achievement in such a small, awkward space and on a girl who regularly watches Doctor Who every week and barely blinks an eye!
Stunning costumes and a dazzling set, as well as a very funny and at times moving piece (as a crestfallen Toady points out, "it is a hard world sometimes") can only be thanks to dynamic and well thought out direction which was pulled off with great aplomb by a more than capable cast. This was a production where the only thing that told you it was an amateur one was because it said so on the programme. Everything else was by far and away a professional standard. All in all, here's to BMH Productions. In myself and my two daughters you have three life long fans and all I can say is Thankyou and keep up the good work, we love BMH!
There are simply too many to go into here who desreve credit but mentions must go to Nicola Blake's mole who made me think that the original may have been a girl. This was a great bit of casting that put a new spin on the classic tale and Blake's performance was great to watch and had my youngest claiming she wanted to be like mole when she grows up! Also Ashley Harvey's Toad who bounced around the stage with such excitement amd gusto that the humourous moments were highlighted to a greater extent. It may seem an easy job to run around a stage acting like a buffoon but it takes a very great actor to be able to draw out as many comedic elements as he did. Also Badger played with great weight by Daniel Halsall - he was just superb and made a lovely kind old badger who my children warmed to instantly much in the same way mole did. And Ben Watts' Albert, a droll sarcastic horse, need I say more? Well done Mr Watts!
After all of this praise I feel the overall ovation must go to the young director Katherine Rudd. In her programme notes (which were beautifully and intelligently written) she claimed to be a "newbie" to direction. This did not show at all. There was not one part of the performance that didn't seem like it had been gone over with a fine-toothed comb. The relationships all merged fantastically and effortlessly and it whisked my two young daughters (and me I dare say) away into its own world for two and a half hours, which I felt flew by! Each character was incredibly individual and the wild wood scene had my youngest cowering under my arm: no small achievement in such a small, awkward space and on a girl who regularly watches Doctor Who every week and barely blinks an eye!
Stunning costumes and a dazzling set, as well as a very funny and at times moving piece (as a crestfallen Toady points out, "it is a hard world sometimes") can only be thanks to dynamic and well thought out direction which was pulled off with great aplomb by a more than capable cast. This was a production where the only thing that told you it was an amateur one was because it said so on the programme. Everything else was by far and away a professional standard. All in all, here's to BMH Productions. In myself and my two daughters you have three life long fans and all I can say is Thankyou and keep up the good work, we love BMH!