Valley Artists

Date: 11 to 19 November 2006
Category: Performances

"One of the best loved stories of our time, 'The Wind in the Willows', written in 1908 by Kenneth Grahame, has enchanted young and old alike for generations.

Join Valley Artists in November, 2006, and adventure your way through a musical fantasy with the wayward Toad, the amiable Mole, the hearty Water Rat, the genial Badger and a myriad of other characters. This outdoor production will be like no other before it. To be directed by Janine Oliver ('The Finneys', 2005).

Adapted by Janine Oliver, you will all be so excited to know that it will be performed in the great outdoors with the audience following the adventures. The Workshops with John Campbell (Circus Avalon) on Saturdays at Laguna Hall, have now finished. Approximately 30 adults and children attended the six workshops. All have thoroughly enjoyed and absorbed the technique of voice, breathing, clowning and slapstick. The enthusiasm that John empowered in the workshop participants carries through into rehearsals, which is fantastic as we approach a fast and furious rehearsal period of just ten weeks.

A little insight into a big production: A cast of 40 will play 62 characters. Most of the children will double up on roles if not triple up. That should keep them busy! Approximately 40 crew will be required.

Starring: Alex Tehrani, Darren Philip, Malcolm Goudie and Ken Barnett" - Original website advertisement

Reviews

I don't know whether I read Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows as a child or not. It's one of those books you are meant to have read, and therefore assume you have. I have a copy, of course, on my bookshelf, but when I pulled it down the other day to get myself in the mood for writing this review I saw that it was previously unopened, in pristine condition. That will change!

From the moment three red robins fluttered gently to the ground in front of Mole's house, and then three field mice appeared, and then Mole himself and invited us to follow them on a journey of exploration, I wanted to get to know these characters better.

So we moved on and met Ratty and Badger, and then Toad. My first impression on meeting this fine group of bachelors was that the director was very fortunate to have four such actors at hand - the casting was perfect, and the impression grew. Alex Tehrani plays the shy and somewhat fastidious Mole with great charm, Darren Philip as Rat proves to be a good friend, Malcolm Goudie is convincing as the schoolmasterly Badger (I wonder why?) and Ken Barnett actually becomes the boastful, always in some sort of trouble, impossible but somehow loveable, Toad.

Grahame famously said of his book that it was ‘clean of the clash of sex', which means that he was something of a misogynist, and that there are no major parts in his work for women. Of course, some of the highlights of the performance come when Phoebe (Ziggy Rus-Hartland) and her aunt (Rose Jackson) conspire to get Toad out of gaol, and when the Barge Woman (Abby Morrow) sees through his disguise and gives him very short thrift indeed. And it was easy to spot the work of Musical Director and Gypsy Lady Clare Di Natale, and Karen Butler-Hues, who was having a hard night trying to work out just what sort of animal she was - or bird for that matter.

But I think the lack of major female parts was because most of the girls haven't grown up yet, but there they were, lots of them, fey and feisty, lending their incredible level of energy (and chatter) to the play as birds, and weasels, and stoats and squirrels and rabbits and extraordinary rabbit and so on. Not to mention the boys! 28 of the parts were played by local schoolkids - there's a considerable pool of talent to ensure the continuity of Vall