--------Waterside THEATRE COMPANY
May 2001Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett
extract from The Waterside Herald June 2001
THATS WEIRD
Theatre Review by Janice Taylor
Esso Music & Drama Group’s latest production
at the Waterside Theatre took its audience deep into the realms of fantasy.
Terry Pratchett’s Wyrd Sisters’ was a fun performance that
was so well produced and acted that it must surely go down as one of
the Group’s most successful ever.
The trio of witches played by Jennifer Edwards, Christine Galpin and
Patricia Roberts quickly endeared themselves to the audience, as their
contrasting personalities were exploited to the full.
Holding the action strongly together, the domineering duchess (Julia
Allen) and her hapless husband (John Yapp) were characters we all loved
to hate and were glad when they got their come-uppance. Like all good
fools, Glenn Jenks was not really a fool, but a superbly comic actor
to whom mirth-making seems to come easily, while Peter Allen’s
ghostly appearances brought not terror, but an appreciative smile to
the lips.
The whole company excelled in this entertaining tale, which had echoes
of so many Shakespearean plays subtly woven into it, that it really
came as no surprise when a Will Shakespeare look-alike appeared on stage!
Mention must be made of the costumes and special effects which were
truly stunning. No-one in the audience could fail to be impressed by
the sight of a shadowy witch on her broomstick flying across the stage
and around the auditorium as the curtain came down or the interval,
and Esso Music & Drama’s own wardrobe department must surely
rank among the best if the costumes they made for this show are anything
to judge by.
Extract from Lymington Times June 2nd 2001
TERRY PRATCHETT
devotees were out in force when Esso Music and Drama group staged a dramatisation
of Pratchett’s book Wyrd Sisters at the Waterside Theatre, Holbury.
Adapted for the stage by Stephen Briggs and directed by Becky Coultas,
this fantasy tale based loosely on ‘Macbeth’ made for a refreshingly
different theatrical experience.
The audience sat spellbound as the three, very different, witches, played
by Christine Galpin, Patricia Roberts and Jennifer Edwards, wove their
magic with the help of the humorous and down-to-earth script.
The villains of the piece were John Yapp (with hands that became bloodier
and bloodier throughout the evening) and Julia Allen as the Duke and Duchess
of Lancre. G1enn Jenks played a captivating Fool and Leighton Fort a handsome
Tomjon, the rightful heir to the throne. Richard Fort and Claire Baldwin
were the flamboyant Thespians who cared for him from birth. Christine
Talbot portrayed a sparkling Demon who magically appeared from a steaming
cauldron. Peter Allen was the ghost of King Verence and John Howell looking
not unlike Shakespeare himself was cast in the role of Hwel the playwright.
The performance was enhanced by the excellent costumes, all designed and
made especially for the production by Tina Ayles. Tracey Davies. Pat Goodes
and Patricia Roberts. Also the spectacular special effects, which had
the audience mesmerised as colours bounced off the ceiling and a witch
on a broomstick made her way around the walls of the auditorium.<> A truly
ambitious and entertaining production.
(Contributed).
Bewitching Crones Take a Comic Twist
TERRY Pratchett’s books are now so popular, they practically
levitate off the shelves. Their appeal is probably in the way Pratchett
treats traditional fantasy elements in a refreshingly comic manner—
a winning blend to which Pratchett adds his own whimsical brand of observation.
It’s a charming mix - but not one that translates easily to the
stage.
However, the ever-ambitious Esso Music and Drama Group have proved it
can be done, in their excellent dramatisation of Pratchett’s Wyrd
Sisters — a re-telling of the Macbeth story with some defiantly
un-witch like witches.
Esso clearly excels at comic roles, with the central trio of Christine
Galpin, Patricia Roberts and Jennifer Edwards relishing every word of
an imaginative script, and John Yapp and Julia Allen giving their all
as a pair of delight-fully monstrous villains.
Glenn Jenks made an enchanting Fool, while Leighton Fort was the epitome
of square-jawed heroism as Tomjon, rightful heir of the murdered king.
An economically-furnished set was given depth with some clever lighting,
and the addition of some start1ing special effects was just the icing
on the cake of a truly magical production.
Andrew White