Playwright David Wood often includes a range of roles suitable for a mixed-age cast so it’s perfect for community theatre. Understandably, his work has been popular with Playbox over the years, most recently with Fantastic Mr Fox in 2023.
Wood is accomplished at whittling down the complexities of a long story and identifying the key elements to carry the plot.
He often uses the device of a narrator and in this production both James (Theo Johnston) and Old Green Grasshopper (Stanley Hack) take on this role within their characters.
The story is not chronological but starts by revealing the happy ending and introducing the key characters; James, Grasshopper, Centipede (Adam White), Ladybird (Scarlett Edgar), Miss Spider (Anika Snyders), and Earthworm (Ivey Hall).
It’s a structure that shows us that, despite the trials ahead, everything will work out – excellent for younger audiences.
The play then goes back in time, and we see poor James unfortunately, and dramatically, orphaned by a rampaging rhinoceros in what was a well-executed scene.
He’s packed off to live with his vile, vain aunts, Sponge (Gabrielle de Bruijn) and Spiker (Kendra Boyle), until an encounter with a mysterious Magical Person (Jo-Ann Pass) sets him on a new, more optimistic path.
Johnston is a confident performer in the role of James and successfully manages the links between all the plot parts.
White’s animated, flashy Centipede and Hall’s pessimistic, melancholy Earthworm are popular characters, getting several laughs on opening night.
Edgar is polished as the elegant Ladybird, her small preening details adding to character, while Snyders (who was excellent as Arrietty in The Borrowers last year) has less to do here as Miss Spider but is polished in her presentation.
Hack’s old-fashioned vocal delivery adds pomposity and the necessary gravitas to his role.
Ladybird (Scarlett Edgar), Centipede (Adam White) and James (Theo Johnston) in a scene from James and the Giant Peach. Photo / Kerry Blakeney-Williams
Boyle and de Bruijn are both having a lot of fun with the excesses of the aunts, all bounce and bones, full of shrieks and exclamations.
Their faces grimace, pucker, pout and simper and a physical sisterly squabble was a highlight. While the roles are undoubtedly caricatures, I’d have enjoyed seeing more variety in their delivery to indicate menace and mood.
The ensemble has a range of roles from a tour guide, sea creatures, a ship’s crew and city residents which are nice opportunities for cameos.
The group also supports the action from off-stage which adds energy and atmosphere. We could have had more of this in places; for example, Centipede’s lively and well-performed rap would have been enhanced with more backup beatboxing.
The Old Green Grasshopper (Stanley Hack) in James and the Giant Peach. Photo / Kerry Blakeney-Williams
It’s difficult to stage a show with many fantastical elements and it was obvious work had gone into creating visuals to represent these.
There was effective use of lighting with a swirly effect creating a mystical atmosphere and a projection to create an underwater scene, transporting the audience into the ocean. This was my show highlight.
However, not all elements were successful. Sometimes the projections on the cyclorama at the back felt a little removed from the action and some of the images exceeded the screen size.
There was an excellent giant peach for the core cast to inhabit and costumes and makeup were well-executed and showed a lot of detail and craft, especially for the insects.
Sound was used well for some scenes but a bit more background music and some effects would have enhanced the storytelling - the happy demise of Sponge and Spiker was begging for a delicious crunch or squelch.
