easthampshire.org

Swallows & Amazons Chichester Festival Theatre 18/01/12

Under Tom Morris’ direction Helen Edmundson and Neil Hannon’s strange musical production of Arthur Ransome’s children’s book Swallows & Amazons is an odd hotchpotch of an evening out. Swinging in an unsteady way between the Edwardian sentimentality of the book and the seat-gnawing awkwardness of a school pantomime it can be endearing, a little other-worldly and irritatingly coy inside the minute.

The biggest and most obvious pluses of this show are the creative set design and actors in blue who, wielding minimal props, provide the bare wood stage with numerous environments as well as playing live music throughout and filling-in all but the four central roles. The inventiveness of these hard-workers (designers included) more than makes up for the fact that this performance is not really being played for the large number of adults in the room and it gives us something to latch onto and enjoy.

The four leads (John, Susan, Titty and Roger) are for the most part played as big, often noisy Blue Peter presenter-type characters who flounce and dream loudly before bursting into harmonized singing (which is where they may differ from your own children) but it was Richard Holt’s conservative performance of John that I most enjoyed and reminded me of having this sweet book read at bedtimes when around 9 or 10 years of age.

Music for this production was provided by Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy – a bit of a no-brainer) whose distinctive writing style eases through and does the job in a very pleasant manner. Highlights include the Famous Explorers song and John’s ‘Duffers’ moonlit solo.

Any review-based confusion comes down to the sense that this production on this night had no single identity and, with this particular collection of talented people all coming from different directions, I can’t picture it ever properly melding into a single comprehensive play. The book seems simple enough to stage in a traditional way but, with such an original visual approach, other aspects feel disparate and underdeveloped. But I may be in the minority with this view as, at the bow, audience members start standing-up amid rapturous applause. Maybe they are just big Blue Peter fans…

easthampshire.org group:

• Chichester Festival Theatre

Reviewed by: reviewersirrah