Review by: Paul Towers, 24/8/2015
Roald Dahl’s Fantastick Mr Fox adapted by Sam Holcroft
A Curve, Nuffield Southampton, Lyric Hammersmith
co-production
Music and lyrics by Arthur Darvill, Darren Clark, Sam
Holcroft & Al Muriel
Curve 3 – 9 April 2017
“Dahl’s dubious taste is to the fore.”
Continuing with Curve’s outstanding previous success with
The Witches and The Twits this is the latest of Dahl’s books to reach our stage
As with all Roald Dahl children’s books Fantastic Mr Fox is
liberally laced with enough gore, gunge and bad taste to keep any schoolboy
delighted for its entirety.
Mr Fox is the Leslie Philips of the fox world, the saviour
of the forest’s animal kingdom. Well, at least that is what he thinks. In truth
he has to confront the realisation that he can’t save the world single-handed
and has to co-operate with his wildlife chums, badger, rabbit, mouse and mole,
along with his daughter and pregnant wife.
Up against this feral band of companions are the greedy,
unprincipled farmers, Boggis, Bunce and Bean, hell bent on clearing the forest
to prevent their chickens being stolen.
Dahl’s dubious taste is to the fore from the very start with
what looks like a cute Supremes style song which quickly descends into a
literal description of the despatching of chickens for the table. The onstage band, discreetly tucked away
in a top corner, provides not only the soundtrack but many of the various
special effects.
Greg Barnett as the eponymous Fantastic Mr Fox is suave and
sexy in a shell suit as he makes the
ladies swoon and the men worship his cunning schemes. One expects his teeth to
gleam every time he smiles. Lillie Flynn (very appropriate casting as her stage
husband thinks he is Errol Flynn) is Mrs Fox, the power behind the ego. As the
four musketeers, Badger (Raphael Bushay), Rabbit (Sandy Foster), Mole (Gruffudd
Glyn) and Mouse (Kelly Jackson) Mr Fox has a true band of allies in his fight
against the dastardly farmers.
The set is an epic masterpiece of versatility, a multi
tiered cake-like edifice that turns on several levels with surprisingly complex
scene changes. This allows for many very quick costume changes and some very
knock-about slapstick chases.
This is pure Dahl with a surface story that any child over 5
will be able to follow while there are plenty of bits and pieces to keep adults
amused. Watch out especially for a rather risqué routine about sex toys which
will go straight over the heads of anyone under about 15 (I hope)
Fantastic Mr Fox continues at Curve until Sunday 9th
April and then on tour
Tickets from Curve on www.curveonline.co.uk
Details of the tour are on www.fantasticmrfoxlive.com
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