REVIEW By ROSEMARY MORT
WHAT a good idea to stage the children’s classic Wind in the Willows near a creek bank with willows, and at Sunday’s dress rehearsal, even a bit of a wind.
Felt Tip Theatre Company is staging the play at the little used Moran Amphitheatre behind NERAM using predominantly adult actors in the main roles and young people taking a variety of bit parts.
Company principal Alex Robson directs the play and also takes on the part of Toad, the recidivist rebel whose enthusiasm for upgrades in transport reduces his more responsible friends, Ratty (Josh Osborne), Mole (Torsten Strokirch) and Badger (Peter Newman) to despair.
At the dress rehearsal the baddies almost stole the show with Chief Weazel Andrew O’Connell in a red top hat and his apprentices Kyle O’Donohue and Ben Saunders excelling with evil laughs and cockney accents.
A variety of inventive props, Ratty’s boat to mess about in, Toad’s gypsy caravan, the car, two trains and a plane and great costumes enliven the production.
Robson has adapted the book to the stage and manages to encapsulate the essence of the story, using the platform stage to great effect allowing the archetypal characters Ratty, Mole, Badger and their friend the Otter to emerge with their strengths and comic aspects.
It will play at the Amphitheatre next weekend 1-2 March at 2pm.
