Review: THE WIZARD OF OZ, QEII Theatre Winchester - Blue Apple

Photo credit: Mike Hall

Winchester based Blue Apple are a company that supports performers with learning disabilities to develop multi art form performances. Their TV documentary Growing Up Down’s focused on their 2014 touring production of Hamlet and was nominated for an International Emmy for “Best Documentary” in 2015. It is clear that Blue Apple has lost none of its passion for championing performers with learning disabilities. 

This version of The Wizard of Oz has been written especially for the cast by director Richard Conlon, and tells the well loved tale from a different angle. As the show opens we meet Mary, now a woman of advancing age, and she takes us back in time to 1970, when she was an 8 year old girl visiting a local elderly person’s residence. There she meets “Dotty” or Dorothy, who tells her a magical tale of her own childhood- one that nobody else believes!

It turns out that Dorothy is THE Dorothy. THE Dorothy of L Frank Baums classic story of The Wizard of Oz, and later “That Dammed film”! 8 year old Mary goes back to the home time and time again to hear the end of the story- and how the “real version” differed from Baum’s inaccurate retelling that became a classic. 

The ensemble cast does a magnificent job of portraying both the characters of Oz, and the comical characters in the home. The production uses song, movement, puppetry and AV all to great effect and there are guest vocal performances by Miriam Margolyes and Clare Carson.  

Subtitles projected onto the screen are integrated perfectly into the production, making it accessible for anyone D/deaf, and it is wonderful to see many features in place which ensure inclusivity for both performers and audience members, reinforcing Blue Apple’s ethos to ensure accessibility for all - both on and off the stage. 

Stand out performances come from Anna Brisbane and Katy Francis as Mary and Young Mary respectively, and Katie Appleford and Isla Hall as Dorothy and Young Dorothy. The dual timelines in the story are kept clearly defined by the use of lighting and split stage performances, and what may be a slightly confusing narrative is kept on track by excellent narration from the cast. Ros Davies plays all four of the witches - the north, east, south and west, and is as comical as she is charming. 

The finale of the show brings the whole cast to the stage to perform a signed song ‘Where Do We Go In Our Dreams’, created by Kate Mellors and the Blue Apple Singers. It is an uplifting ending to a delightfully entertaining evening of storytelling.

*** Three stars

Reviewed by: Sarah Brown

Blue Apple’s The Wizard of Oz plays at The QEII Theatre - Winchester College until 8 April, with tickets available here.