Review: THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE, Southwark Playhouse
Even with a global pandemic and the ongoing theatre shutdown, Southwark Playhouse has continued to be a hub of creative activity and has become a great champion for new musicals. Over the last year or so, the venue has played host to a number of productions, both in person and online, including The Last Five Years, Stay Away Jake, The Fabulist Fox Sister, Brother and a concert version of Fiver ,with the premiere of You Are Here still to come. Whilst it had been hoped that it would be possible to welcome audiences in to witness the premiere of a new musical adaptation of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, it just wasn’t possible in the circumstances, so this fully staged production instead moved online, streaming directly into our homes.
In a twist of the famous poem by Johann Wolfgang, which inspired the music that in turn was featured in Disney’s Fantasia, Richard Hough and Ben Morales Frost present this gender swapped production that combines magic, family drama and the important messages that natural resources are not infinite and how we must be aware of the environment around us.
We are introduced to Eva (Mary Moore), the daughter of magician Johan (David Thaxton) living in the small town of Midgard under the northern lights. She’s rebellious and wants nothing more than to learn her father’s sorcery skills and help him to convince the residents of the town that the aurora is fading and that they are running out of time to save magic, thanks to the local factory sapping all of the power. But with her father struggling to connect with her and pushing her away at every opportunity, the town has been pushed to breaking point in a bid for progress, thanks to Fabian Lydekker (Marc Pickering) who claims that the world will provide for anything that man wants to do. With the help of young scientist Eric (Yazdan Qafouri), they must save the aurora and save the magic.
In her professional debut, London School of Musical Theatre graduate Mary Moore impresses as Eva, who delights in trying to emulate her father’s magic and her emerging relationship with Eric as she realises what needs to be done to save the aurora. With Moore and David Thaxton taking the lion’s share of the musical numbers, there is plenty of opportunity for the dynamic between father and daughter to be established through song. There’s believable conflict there with Eva wanting to be seen and listened to, and Johan struggling to look past his grieving for Eva’s late mother and his own conflict with Lydekker; that conflict is nicely balanced with a sense of love that cannot be denied. Thaxton’s vocals are particularly impressive throughout.
Yazdan Qafouri plays Eric, a young scientist from the south who travels to the north to study the fading northern lights. There’s a wide eyed innocence to this character, whether he is investigating the lights with Johan or marvelling over Eva and her attempts at magic. He has a lovely voice, so much so that it seems a shame to only really hear him in a couple of numbers. Dawn Hope adds a touch of authority as Fabian’s somewhat overbearing mother who babies her already over-nannied and power-hungry son, but it is Marc Pickering as Fabian who proves to be a scene stealer. As the villain of the piece, Fabian is a bumbling opportunist with more power than sense, with his over-the-top behaviour and moments of childish laughter reminiscent of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s babied and spoilt Baron Bomburst.
Steven Harris’ choreography, combined with some wonderful puppetry by Maia Kirkman-Richards, make full use of the four-person ensemble who become villagers, factory workers, servants to the Lydekker’s and the magical aurora throughout the show. The ensemble also recreates the famous broom scene that many a Disney fan are familiar with. The music, which flows nicely throughout the story with a mixture of high energy numbers and powerful ballads, is memorable and oozes with a magical Disney-like charm and in those magical moments with dance and puppetry, the production is screaming out for a larger stage and an audience reaction to bounce off of. If being picky, the first act is perhaps a little too long at approximately 80 minutes. Although we are taken into the interval with that magical broom scene, it feels like a lot is crammed into the shorter second act, which runs at around 50 minutes long.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a charming new musical, which blurs the lines between children’s story and family drama. The story feels like something from a Disney classic, whilst remaining relevant and engaging enough for a modern audience, with characters that both make you laugh and pull at your heartstrings. Once restrictions are lifted, we can only hope that this production is given the chance to shine in front of live audiences that will lift the story to new levels.
****’ Four and a half stars
Reviewed by: Rebecca Wallis
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is available to stream until 14 March here.
Please note: this review also appears on the Musical Theatre Lives In Me blog.
