Consistently interacting with a live audience – where you never quite know what response you will get – takes equal amounts of skill and energy, and these three actors have both in droves. They didn’t miss a beat, in the pre-show part of when on stage in the show itself, and were deservedly an audience favourite.
Consistently breaking the fourth wall, and again relying on audience response to fuel his actions, was Edward Lear, played by the talented Alfie Healion. He has great energy, and this show enabled him to really show how he can harness that energy and use it develop a really fun and engaging character. His stagecraft is excellent, with great physicality on stage as well as the ability to respond quickly to audience chatter and adapt his script accordingly.
While Healion’s role required plenty of chatter, as The Reflection, Felix Pease was reliant on his mime skills for his role. Fortunately for all, he is an excellent mime, and brought great physicality and expression to his role throughout. His chase scenes and mirroring scenes were among the highlights of the show, and his energy levels were almost contagious at times. He brought a beautiful sense of childlike wonder to the role that gave The Reflection some real depth.
As both The Moon and The Pig, Katie Duggan is a wonderfully comic actor who demonstrated excellent stage craft throughout. Her expressiveness and graceful movement helped tell the story even when she wasn’t speaking. Ajax Bailey brought delightful energy to the role of The Cow, and demonstrated great comic timing throughout.
As the titular Owl and Pussycat, Esme Pease and Georgie Vickers respectively were well matched. Both have great physicality on stage, ensuring their movement matched the traits of their characters nicely throughout. They are both fun to watch, whether they are part of the main action, or standing further back, they stayed in character throughout with well developed physicality and expression.
As The Spider, William Broadmore was another fun character to watch. He has excellent physical comedy skills and brought these to the fore as The Spider as well as his second role as The Crooked Man. He is a skilled actor who can turn any role into a starring one for himself, and this was no exception. As soon as he stepped onto the stage the energy levels increased, along with a sense of drama, no matter how slapstick the storyline itself is.
He was well matched on stage by Jamie Boyd’s Little Miss Muffet. Boyd is another skilled and experienced actor, and this drag role was the perfect showcase for his talent. He is another actor with great comic timing and physicality, and he used both perfectly in this show, along with plenty of well-tuned energy on stage. He also played Mr Gumbly, Lear’s publisher, making the seemingly effortless transition from one role to the other in a very short time.
The backstage crew all matched the onstage actors for skill, with wardrobe, makeup, lighting and sound all adding an extra level to the show throughout. The cast and crew had an added advantage in location, with 4th Wall Theatre an absolutely brilliant theatre, complete with a back screen that elevates every set and scene.
Overall this was the perfect showcase for a drama school that is packed with talented students, and is a sign of great things to come, for the individual actors involved, and the school itself.
Ilona Hanne is a Taranaki-based journalist and news director who covers breaking and community news from across the lower North Island. She has worked for NZME since 2011.
