Well, this was a first for me! No, not a Mikron show, I’ve seen them a few times before, but never have I seen a production in a chip shop before! Arriving an hour before the show as invited, the whole audience tucked into a fish and chip supper before the evening’s entertainment began. Yes, you did read that correctly: this evening's performance was at the Wetherby Whaler, Guiseley, which is the chain's most prestigious site, sitting where the original Harry Ramsden's fish shop used to, having closed following an 80-year residence in Guiseley. 10 years on, and the Wetherby Whaler was bream-ing with character, and was packed full of patrons.
After we had eaten, the cast began to emerge, milling about
the tables, selling raffle tickets, for their 50th anniversary draw,
and selling programmes and other bits and pieces. Then, the stage lights
flickered into action; the (somewhat overkill) chandelier houselights dimmed,
and away we went, Mikron burst into action, as they always seem to do, with a
song (and a rather confident trombone!) that whisked us away to the village of
Netherby. We follow the story of a young meteorologist, Hayley, (Hannah
Bainbridge) on her path to finishing her PhD in Meteorology but ends up being
thrust into the limelight of a small TV channel in the role of weather girl, much to her
annoyance, and although she eventually ‘bosses’ her job, starts off in a really
quite funny, and awkward, manner.
On our trip, we met Eileen aka. Mother Nature (Alice
McKenna) who acted as our guide, and narrator, keeping us on track of which
century, or historic event we’d arrived at, which was helpful, as we did seem
to whizz through time, from the 18th century, and the naming of the
clouds, to the 19th century, and Francis Beaufort’s inception of the
Beaufort Scale, all the way up to modern times, referencing local flooding in
the surrounding areas of Mikron's home base. We also met Nigel (James
McLean), a 40-year-old news station producer, who has read every colloquialism
on Twitter, and throws them around willy-nilly, and rather awkwardly, adding
humour to his role; and last, but by no means, least, Zeph, short for Zephyr
(Thomas Cotran) a cameraman-cum-boy-band-lead-singer, who was the station's
whipping boy, who - spoiler alert! - ends up falling for our lead.
Mikron are a wonderfully small company of just 4, who play
the roles of upwards of 20 characters throughout the play. Not only that, but
they are also the orchestra and the stagehands, which they do so fluidly,
without distracting from the main action on stage. There is a unique charm that
comes with their shows, and I think the quirkiness of each show brings people
back time and time again. Today's show, taught us about the weather, and also
touched on many hot topics across the world such as global warming, with nods
to global warming protest groups as well as the ‘there is no planet B’ campaign.
Lindsay Rodden’s show was littered with dad jokes, local
history and of course, fun songs, written for the show by Sonum Batra, who
should be commended for their work, as they wove into the storyline like a lace
does on a shoe. Along with MTC’s musical director, Rebekah Hughes, they brought the
show to life with the lift that live music gives. Director Marianne McNamara
has once again brought the very best out of the show, in what must be the most
low-tech touring company on the circuit. There was just a small set, of some
wind vanes, and a three-step podium. That was it. Decorated with bunting (that
was subtle, but genius) made to look like a high pressure weather line on one
side, and a low pressure line on the other side.
In classic Mikron form, the cast had several costume
changes, but, mostly these were just a hat or a jumper, so as to imply a new
character, as full changes would take far too long and spoil the flow of the
show. And in one of the closing lines of the show, the whole of Mikron was
summed up perfectly for me; they are "small, delicate, brave and mighty', and long
may it continue. Happy 50th Birthday to the company (which was
celebrated this week) and thank you for a lovely evening's entertainment.
Reviewer - Simon Oliver
on - 19.5.22
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