The theatre in the hills is alive with the sound of music as the season begins with not just one but two musicals. The new addition is a co-production with the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, of the stage adaptation of hit film Footloose, now forty years old.
Characterised by its energy and non-stop enthusiasm
The duo of musicals covers several decades in its appeal. For the older ones, already up and running is the Carole King story which has a resonance for those familiar with the 60s and 70s while Footloose takes it from there, the 1984 Kevin Bacon movie winning awards with its pop songs and power ballads such as Holding Out For a Hero memorably sung by Bonnie Tyler.
The musical adaptation by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie, based on the former’s screenplay, hit the stage in 2012. New Wolsey’s Douglas Rintoul now directs an energetic production which powers through any weak points in the script.
The story unlikely as it seems is based on the fact that Elmore City in Oklahoma had a historical ban on dancing which the high school kids set about removing.
Taking that as its starting point, Footloose embellishes it with themes of fighting for your rights, relationships between parents and kids and young people and their local council.
It focuses on school kid Ren (Luke Wilson in fine form and voice) who moves from Chicago with his mother to live with family in the country for financial reasons. Ren discovers to his horror that his go-to activity, dance is banned in his new home, Bomont.
A strict small town preacher will not permit dancing saying it is linked to drinking and drug taking. Robin Simpson takes on the role of Reverend Shaw Moore, managing to convince with the Rev’s surprising overnight conversion to dance after years of opposition.
It turns out his son has been killed in an accident after going to a dance. He also has a daughter Ariel, wild and disobedient, mandatory for a preacher’s offspring in entertainment.
Kirsty Findlay excels as Ariel the rebel, first hanging out with the town bad boy but then befriending Ren. They have both suffered loss, her brother in the accident and his father who walked out on him and his mother.
The 14-strong company demonstrates its ability to give its all to a musical, singing, dancing and masterfully playing their musical instruments. They are particularly strong in their depictions of the town’s teenagers in the 1980s, joining Ren’s dance crusade while navigating relationships with the opposite sex.
Congratulations to Luke Thornton who plays shy lad Willard, written as little more than a hick, who manages to breathe a lot more into the character.
The production is characterised by its energy and the ensemble’s non-stop enthusiasm and it got the audience on its feet.
