Directed by Amy Dunham
The Courtyard, Canberra Theatre Centre to January 20
Review by Len Power
Isn’t it amazing that even though he is over eighty years
old, Winnie The Pooh is still a favourite character for today’s children? Written by A.A. Milne, the book,
‘Winnie-The-Pooh’, first appeared in 1926 and was followed by ‘The House At
Pooh Corner’ in 1928. Milne named the
character Winnie-the-Pooh after a teddy bear owned by his son, Christopher
Robin Milne, who was the basis for the character Christopher Robin. Continuously popular from original
publication, the stories gained a new lease of life when Walt Disney
productions bought the rights and produced several animated movies as well as
soft toys and other merchandise from 1966.
Free Rain’s ‘Winnie the Pooh’, directed by Amy Dunham, is a delightful
45 minute production at which the young audience at the opening performance
were totally enthralled. In a smart
move, children had the option of sitting in conventional seats or on the
‘grass’ at the front of the stage. These
children were then made part of the show as ‘friends’ of the characters onstage
and were invited to participate in such things as finding Eeyore’s missing
tail. Actually the children were a bit
ahead of the action, pointing out the tail before they were asked by the cast to
look for it.
The colourful set, nicely designed by director, Amy Dunham
and the cast, initially invokes the toys to be found in a nursery and comes
alive as Christopher Robin’s dream involving his animal friends progresses. Amy Dunham has done a fine job directing all
aspects of this quality children’s theatre production.
 |
| Rachel Thornton, Sam Needham and Miles Thompson |
The cast, in excellent costumes by Fiona Leach, do a nice
job with finely drawn characters that meet our expectations from the
stories. Miles Thompson, as Winnie the
Pooh, has a warmth in his vocal delivery that is very appealing. He also moves well in spite of having a
padded costume to wear. Lachlan Whan as
Tigger bounces all over the set, winning over the young audience with a joyful
quirkiness. Rachel Thornton plays a
pretty and sweet-natured Piglet and Kitty McGarry plays the Nanny at the
beginning and end of the show and also shines as the sunny character,
Kanga. The costume for Kanga conceals a
delightful surprise for the audience which I won’t spoil for you here. Sam Needham as Christopher Robin and Zack
Drury as the depressed Eeyore find depths in their characters that make them
very real.
 |
| Miles Thompson and Zack Drury |
Everyone in the cast showed great skill at interacting
naturally with the young audience. This
can’t be easy as I imagine you can never predict what response you’ll get from
different groups of children. For adults
bringing their children to the show, it’s delightful to watch the children so
involved in the action. After the show,
the cast meet and chat with the children in the foyer, so bring your camera.
I have no memory of being taken to children’s theatre as a
child. I wonder if productions back then
were as good as this one?
Originally broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 ‘Dress Circle’ program
on Sunday 13 January 2013
