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Most people are aware of Shrek, the Dreamworks movie. It came out several years ago and featured a poor ogre who lived alone. One day he found some story creatures in his swamp who had been sent there by Lord Farquaad in order to get rid of them as he was trying to create the perfect Kingdom. Shrek went to see the prince and demand that they be let back into his Kingdom, only to be sent on a quest to rescue a Princess from a tower. She was held captive there by a fire breathing dragon, the stuff of many a fairy tale! Off goes the ogre to rescue the Princess, who is of course expecting Prince Charming to rescue her, fall in love and live happily ever. So she is slightly taken aback when she finds that her rescuer is actually an ogre.
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The journey of Shrek contains many references to well-known story tales, especially the characters that are sent to live in the swamp. In the musical we have Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Tinkerbell, the Mad Hatter, the Three Little Pigs and the Three Bears from Goldilocks. So many well-known fairy tales characters with fantastic costumes. These very talented dancers and singers play a large part in the story, but most of all is the much loved character Donkey. He befriends Shrek, much against his will, and helps him in his quest to rescue the Princess. In the movie Donkey is a very lovable, although somewhat annoying, comedy character. Similarly in the musical he prances, poses and sings alongside Shrek. Shrek is, superbly, played by Antony Lawrence whilst Donkey is brought to life by Brandon Lee Sears. Princess Fiona is played by Natasha Cayabyab as a child, Bethany Kate as a teenager and then Strictly Come Dancing’s Joanne Clifton takes over as the grown up. She is amazing in the role, and the chemistry between her and her lead ma…ogre…is fantastic.
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The set and costumes were designed by Philip Witcomb and he has done an amazing job. A lot of the set uses projection on the back screen, which could be called a cheat, but works very well. We start with a closed book of Shrek which opens up and we read the start of the story and then the book moves forward until the picture is the entire backdrop as we are drawn into the story. In the moving scenes Donkey and Shrek walk along as the sunflowers pass them, stopping when they stop and moving as they move. All very cleverly and effectively done.
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Dreamworks Theatricals turned their movie into a musical so the songs are all custom made to suit. My favourite “complete package” was Make A Move with Donkey and the 3 Blind Mice, but I’ll not give spoilers!
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My companion for the evening has not seen the movie and someone had said that she should not see the musical as she would not understand it. This was not true, it was a standalone production that worked very well. Obviously she was not eagerly waiting for lines such as “ogres are like onions” as I was, but she still loved it – and is now going to watch the movie as she enjoyed it so much! I could be called biased as Princess Fiona’s dark green dress was the inspiration for my wedding dress many years ago but I was sceptical to see it on stage. I also was wrong, it was absolutely brilliant and I totally loved it and the story (and the dress) all over again!
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Tickets still available: https://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/whats-on/shrek-the-musical/
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