This show, Twitchers, like all Mikron shows, brings to light an under appreciated and potentially at risk cause, which in this case is the RSPB, teaching us the history of the charity, all the way back to its inception in the early years of the 20th century, to today’s Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan era.
We meet our cast at RSPB Shrikewing, a small reserve with a worried
warden (Harvey Badger; professional debut) and an excited head warden (Rachel
Hammond), as the BBC’s Birdwatch are coming to film at the reserve for the
return of the turtle doves. The local mayor (Hannah Baker) is getting a touch
too invested, and her aide (Eddie Ahrens; again a professional debut), who is a
self-proclaimed ‘Lockdown Birder’ ends up in the middle of an unfortunate
situation. The play goes on, with the highs and lows of working alongside
nature, the turmoil of big corporations abusing the law,
(Spoiler) - Did you know raw sewage can be released
into rivers if it has rained? Crazy right.. –
We meet a variety of characters that you might see at a
reserve, a hardcore birdwatcher, Reggie, who has some of the funniest dialect
in the show, the founding sisters of the
RSPB, a family of rooks who have just moved into the area, and a wonderful
assortment of characters, all with their stick to add to the well-weaved nest
of the story.
The playwright, Poppy Hollman, has written a great story
here, balancing education, comedy, songs, controversy, into a coherent plot all
together in such a clever way that it left the audience energised and spurred
conversation between groups in the car park, reminiscing over their favourite
songs or scenes from the show, which is always a good sign, to me. Bravo,
Poppy!
I mentioned the songs before, as with all Mikron shows, the
cast are also the musicians, which gives the composer (Amal El-Sawad) and
arranger (Rebekah Hughes) a headache every year as they are faced with a new
set of people, who may have differing levels of ability, not to mention a
somewhat random collection of instruments available to them, but on they
ploughed, and what a triumph it was. The songs were very cleverly crafted and
orchestrated so that the singers could be heard with up to 4 different
instruments being played at once, which is a very commendable achievement! As
for the singers themselves, I have seen quite a few Mikron shows over the
years, and I think this current cast are the most talented group of singers and
musicians that I’ve seen. Every song was in 4-part harmony at some point, and
if not harmonised, there were contrapuntal lines and also 'call and response', which
the cast had grasp of and delivered it all with aplomb. Once again, Bravo.
As is the nature of Mikron, the show tours on a canal boat
where possible, so the set is always minimal, and leaves a lot to the
imagination, nevertheless, the cast still brought a show to life, and told us a
story. The set was very simple, a viewing hut with 4 windows at a nature
reserve. That was it. But it didn’t need to be more than that as the play was
set there, and it did the job! There were an amount of costume changes, but
these usually were the addition, or removal of a piece of additional clothing,
but once again, in the scheme of Mikron, was absolutely all it needed.
Marianne McNamara, now in her 20th year with Mikron, has put together a really enjoyable performance here, with great direction, as you’d come to expect from someone with so much experience in this field, and I expect this run to be a great success, and if nothing else, the bumper crowd in the lovely Bingley Arts Centre really seemed to enjoy tonight’s performance.
Mikron travel the length and breadth of the country, so no
doubt, they will be coming to a performance space near you in the very near
future, so be sure to check them out! You’ll not be disappointed.
Reviewer - Simon Oliver
on - 12.4.23
No comments:
Post a Comment