Chichester Festival Theatre- until 12 November 2022
Reviewed by Lorna Hancock
4****
Based on Enid Blyton’s multi-million selling Famous Five novels, this brand new musical written by Elinor Cook, with music and lyrics by Theo Jamieson, is an exciting and heart-warming family treat celebrating adventure, bravery and friendship. George (Maria Goodman) is less than thrilled at the thought of having her three cousins to stay in Kirrin with her over the Summer, and the siblings Julian (Dewi Wykes), Dick (Louis Suc) and Anne (Isabelle Methven) aren’t particularly excited about their plans either. After a few awkward occurrences the four children eventually warm to each other and their new friendship proves vital in saving the day.
The plot is a slightly modern take on the stories from the original books first published in 1942, and brings in topical issues such as climate change and renewable energy, but still stays true to the original tales of excitement and adventure.
Growing up with the delight of reading the books I was fascinated to see how they could be adapted into a musical. I brought my 9 year old daughter along to assist me with this review, as I thought It would be interesting to have an opinion from a member of the target audience. She absolutely loved it, from start to finish. She was captivated instantly by the set design and the moving map as soon as we walked into the theatre. Her favourite character was hard to choose, but she loved Isabelle Methven as Anne, she really identified with her emotions and was desperate to join her in her adventure. She said she would love to watch it all again and would definitely recommend seeing it to all of her friends! From a child’s point of view I would say that they certainly succeeded in capturing the elation we all engaged with as children in the books.
The set (I briefly mentioned earlier) was brilliantly designed by Lucy Osbourne. Very simple yet versatile, cleverly transitioned us to the different settings in the story.
The energetic cast were talented in capturing the essence of their characters. The relationship between the siblings was very believable and touching to watch and then with their cousin too. Lara Denning was magnificent as Aunt Fanny, her body language and facial expressions really animated the story. Bobby, played by Sam Harrison was superb and added humour every time he appeared on stage. The puppeteers were exceptional, Ailsa Dalling had everyone believing Timmy could be a real dog.
Overall a thoroughly enjoyable performance. A simple but touching story with gratifying morals, interspersed with uplifting songs. It will leave the whole family yearning for adventure.