Leicester Square Theatre – until 2nd September 2018
Reviewed by Elizabeth J Smith
4****
THE BEST WEDDING EVER
The Scarecrows Wedding follows a farmer who narrates the tale of his two scarecrows Harry O’ Hay and Betty O’ Barley, on their quest to fill their wedding list to have “the best wedding yet, no scarecrow will ever forget”.
The show opens with the characters meeting the audience and follows with a lively song. The music is provided by the cast members playing a variety of instruments throughout including the violin, banjo, guitar, accordion, box drum and mouth organ.
The farmer, Mark Kane, tells the tale and also provides the characters that the scarecrows encounter on their journey around the farm collecting the things on their list. The imagination in creating theses characters was genius, sock hand puppet for the geese, a space hopper for the toad and a ruck sack for the very slow and hilarious snail. Reginald Rake, the Spanish lothario, who tries to steal Betty’s heart, brings a great energy to the stage. With great expressions for all
the characters you could see the transformation from one to the other and the children laughed out loud, especially the snail.
The two scarecrows, Phillippa Hogg and Mathew Burns, were played to perfection expressing their true love for each other and their excitement at getting married, all while playing their instruments.
The scenery gave you the impression of open fields and farm yard chaos, with minor changes to create each new scene, even a pond.
My reviewing partner was my 7 year old niece who laughed, clapped and said the wedding dress was the best bit!
Highly recommend for an afternoon school holiday trip.