An adaptation of David Walliams’ celebrated children’s novel that just misses the mark, writes Jane McGowan
Photo by Mark Douet
Awful Auntie follows the story of Stella, who after being orphaned in a car accident is left in the ‘care’ of her bonkers Aunt Alberta, an opera-loving Germanophile whose only friend is a Bavarian owl named Wagner. And if this wasn’t bad enough for the 12-year-old Stella (now Lady Stella Saxby, following her parents’ untimely death), she discovers that Aunt Alberta was behind the whole ghastly business and that she is only keeping her niece alive until she can get her hands on the deeds of the ancient hall.
What ensues is a battle of wills and wits as Stella (with the help of Soot, a friendly ghost she discovers while locked in the coal cellar) and Alberta try to gain the upper hand. This was David Walliams’ eighth novel, and while it may read well on the page, where plot twists can gradually unfold and tensions can build, it didn’t really work on stage.
I had high hopes for the play as it is produced by the Birmingham Stage Company – the same team behind 2015’s remarkable adaptation of Walliams’ Gangsta Granny and adapted and directed by Neal Foster. And yes, there are similarities. Jaqueline Trousdale’s inventive set design, as in the earlier show, is astonishing as gothic turrets, twist and turn to reveal chimneys, hidden drawbridges and even an electrified owl cage. The score too stands out, offering an eerie backdrop to the dastardly deeds being played out in the haunted mansion. Members of the earlier cast also feature, but ultimately they all fail to save this drawn-out, clunky melodrama.
Photo by Mark Douet
Walliams’ skill at injecting some magic, humility and warmth into our modern world, is lost here as he ventures into the past century and some very well-trodden and decidedly Dahl-ian territory, with Aunt Alberta a cross between Matilda’s Miss Trunchbowl and Aunt Sponge from James and the Giant Peach. Timothy Speyer does well-ish as the nasty aunt, opting for a more Alec Guinness in Kind Hearts and Coronets-style ‘lady’, than pantomime dame, but you never feel like his heart is really in it.
Georgina Leonidas is a believable ingénue, while Ashley Cousins as the squeaky-voiced Soot, hops and dances about for all he’s worth. But the dialogue and action – an endless round of chases and door lockings, failed escapes and attempted murders are so stilted, it really feels like everyone is just filling time. In fact, the first half ends so abruptly and awkwardly, that the audience failed to applaud, not realising until the house lights were hastily raised that it was actually the interval.
Although I realise I am not the intended viewer, the amount of fidgeting and sweet unwrapping that went on around me, suggests that the young audience may have felt the same way too.
Awful Auntie is at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking until Mar 11 and at The New Wimbledon from Apr 24-28. Visit: atgtickets.com
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