Worth a trip to Uh-Oz
[Rhys Bevan-John as the Scarecrow chats with Andrea Norwood as Dorothy, holding her dog Toto, in Shakespeare by the Sea’s production of The Wizard of Uh-Oz, now playing at Point Pleasant Park in Cambridge Battery through Aug. 27. (Peter Parsons / Staff) ]Shakespeare by the Sea’s ‘Wizard’ fast-paced, full of laughsBy ELISSA BARNARD Arts Reporter
Shakespeare by the Sea continues to offer theatre as adventure with its latest family show, a roller-coaster ride of L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz.
Earlier this summer when I went alone to see Much Ado About Nothing it was cold and wet and still the show was great. This time for the Wizard of Uh-Oz it was blazing hot and still, the show was great.
Just getting to Cambridge Battery was an adventure in piggy-backing and cajoling two girls, ages five and six, who don’t like to carry ANYTHING. The destination more than made up for the journey.
The Wizard of Uh-Oz, a collective creation by this summer’s talented company, is both a straightforward telling of the beloved story, retaining the purity of its characters and theme, and a send-up of familiar characters with a salting of one-liner jokes, often aimed at adults.
Andrea Norwood’s sweet and earnest Dorothy, dressed in her blue and white gingham dress, is the pure and honest centre of the story. When she is torn away from her beloved Aunt Em by a tornado, she lands in Oz, killing a wicked witch. From then on, Dorothy must struggle to get back home to Kansas.
The delight in the Wizard of Uh-Oz is the trio of characters who join Dorothy on her quest, The Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow. All three are marvelously rendered in this production as both comic and loveable creatures.
Michael McPhee’s sarcastic, uncaring and amazingly robotic tin man is a high point. A former professional break-dancer, clad in a silver sheen stretch turtleneck, McPhee never steps out of his robotic movements. He plays the Tin Man’s mild mean streak with an enthusiastic smile and ironically endearing cheerful voice.
Physically Rhys Bevan-John is wonderfully elastic and floppy as the Scarecrow. He plays the character as decent, innocent and comically obtuse. Anxious for a brain, the Scarecrow doesn’t realize he is already smart.
Zach Apostoleris’s lion is high-energy, as adorable as a stuffed toy with all his fluffy, furry bits and funny in timidity.
These three characters are heroic and this version of the story makes it clear early on that they already contain within them what they seek, the heart for the Tin Man, courage for the Cowardly Lion and a brain for the Scarecrow.
The other characters don’t have the same strength with the exception of Gordon White’s witch, Nathan Bender’s hep-cat monkey of great vocal and physical power and Toto the dog.
Puppeteer Kevin MacPherson has turned two grey mop heads with two sticks into a panting, barking, playful dog who leaps into Dorothy’s arms and sniffs out the phony wizard behind the curtain. The day I saw the show a real dog was startled by Toto and barked at him confirming that fiction is truer than fact.
Entertaining, fast-paced and fun with some good belly laughs, a clear story and clever set pieces, the Wizard of Uh-Oz is another hit in Shakespeare by the Sea’s series of collectively created family shows that spark the imagination of both the cast and the audience.
In the sizzling heat, the actors, including the forceful Emily Bartlett and Lacey Haynes as witches, Drew O’Hara as a monkey and Adam Bayne as the Wizard, were amazing in their endurance and high spirits. The five-year-old fell in love with Dorothy, and Norwood spoke warmly to her both at intermission and at the end of the show.
The six-year-old, when asked to name a favourite part, simply said, "I loved it all."
The Wizard of Uh-Oz runs to Aug. 27 alternating with Much Ado About Nothing Tuesday to Sunday at 1 and 7 p.m. For the schedule go to http://thechronicleherald.ca/Entertainment/ or call 422-0295 for daily updates. Suggested donation is $10. Chair rental is $2 or bring your own chair or blanket. The site has two canopies to block direct sun and tree-shaded areas on the side.
( ebarnard@herald.ca)
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Entertainment/519775.html
