3 STARS, June 1-10. Shrek The Musical is well worth seeing if you are a fan of the Dreamworks original, says Alison Hunt
If you’re a fan of Dreamworks’ 2001 film ‘Shrek’, starring a grumpy, swamp-dwelling green ogre, his donkey sidekick, a feisty princess and practically every fairy tale character you can think of, you may be interested to see the stage version which has just landed in Woking.
I took my eight-year-old son, who hasn’t seen the film to enjoy the experience with fresh eyes. Being half term, the audience was packed with families with similarly aged children and we all sat in raptures at the clever set with its story book beginning.
It starts well, with Shrek earning plenty of sympathy from the audience as his mean parents send him out into the world at the tender age of seven. Moving forward, he is now a lonely, grumpy ogre living in a swamp who is quite content in his solitude. He is far from impressed when his home is invaded by a group of fairy tale folk, who have been banished from their land of Duluc by Lord Farquaad for being different.
Grumpy Shrek must agree to rescue Princess Fiona from a dragon guarded tower for Lord Farquaad in order to get his swamp back, but things don't turn out quite as he expects.
Steffan Harri’s Shrek, is likeable and in contrast to Mike Myer’s version has a believable Scottish accent. Marcus Ayton portrays Donkey with fantastic energy and exuberance, but sadly for us, his fast talking and problems with the sound made his early scenes with Shrek difficult to understand.
Laura Main’s Princess Fiona is extremely engaging and sings and dances beautifully. The supporting cast of fairy tale characters are also immensely talented, and the children greatly enjoyed the effect every time Joseph Dockree’s Pinocchio told a lie.
Samuel Holmes’ diminutive Lord Farquaar baffled my son for ages with his tiny prop legs (his real legs are strapped-up behind him and covered by a black curtain) who constantly asked “how is he so small mummy?” until I revealed the truth. Indeed, we then all marvelled at how he managed to ‘run’ around the stage on his knees, even throwing in the odd hilarious ‘splits’ and high kicking routine.
A highlight for us was the fire-breathing dragon, an enormous and fabulous puppet that moves believably due to slick manipulation by its operators and is given the most beautifully powerful singing voice by Lucinda Shaw.
We also loved an amusing ‘Disney-esque’ scene featuring Princess Fiona singing with uncooperative woodland animals and culminates with an entertaining song and dance routine with a troupe of handsome rats.
But the undoubtable star of the show for us was Samuel Holmes’ fantastic Lord Farquaad, whose quick wittedness managed to squeeze a ridiculous number of laughs from both young and old with his tiny legs and trusty steed ‘Brexit’.
All in all, Shrek is an enjoyable, but not brilliant show – poor sound and fast dialogue made it difficult for the children to follow in places and there are no big show tunes to go home singing – but a clever set and talented cast make it a fun night out regardless.
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