The Witches cast their spell
THEATRE
The Witches
★★★★½
Griffin Theatre/Barking Gecko Theatre
Subiaco Arts Centre
Review by Melanie Coram
Boys will be boys and witches will be witches. And witches who hate little boys will turn them into mice.
When one little boy learns of a massive conspiracy to turn all the children into rodents, he shows tremendous courage trying to save the world.
This adaptation of David Wood's stage play is a taut, energetic and very funny romp through Roald Dahl's much-loved book.
Actor Scott Sheridan, dressed only in such items as jeans, sneakers, a T-shirt and hoodie, switches from boy to grandmother to boozing, obese dad to Grand High Witch, using only his body, face and voice.
When the mice take centre stage, Sheridan's hands scuttle and scurry in a mesmerising display before he
leaps back into human form, dancing and crouching through the ages of man.
Director Lucas Jervies uses music, sound effects and lighting to build tension and push the story along but it is Sheridan's transformation that captivates the audience for 45 minutes.
The pace never flags and children in the audience do not appear to get lost between characters or settings, despite the lack of obvious signposts.
As my eight-year-old burrowed his face into my shoulder at one chilling moment, I thought it a marvel that one performer could convey the menace of the Grand High Witch without costume or painted scenery. Barking Gecko Theatre Company recommends the show for children over the age of six - it is dark enough to creep out very small children.
The grotesque and unrepentant punishment dished out in The Witches will be familiar to every kid who ever opened a Roald Dahl book.
It has the cautionary lessons of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - bad things happen to bad people.
It has ugly, mean, horrible adults as in The Twits, transmogrification like The Magic Finger, a heist just like in Fantastic Mr Fox and the rude giggles of Revolting Rhymes.
What more could you want from an Easter holiday outing?
The Witches is at the Subiaco Arts Centre until April 12.
