By Ross Brewster
Whether you are six or 76 – my next birthday – a musical production at Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake encompasses different generations in its charm and appeal.
The Lost Spells, adapted from the book by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, can truly be said to provide sparkling, invigorating entertainment for all ages. It’s wild, it’s funny and it’s noisy. Furthermore it has an excellent enthusiastic cast of five who sing, play music and act with joyful abandon.
It is a production that has a message, that we should treasure nature and take care of it. At times in the first act it became a bit fragmented, but overall the effect was spellbinding, as any good book of magic spells should be.
I think youngsters will love it, but The Lost Spells also reminds us oldies of innocent times from our own childhood. Dandelion blowing and conkers, we all had a go at that.
What amazed me was how believable in the role of a 12-year-old was Miriam Nyarko. She can sing well, too.
She plays Jay – sorry I’ve got to give the name away in the interests of describing the basis of the play – whose first day at a new school is a nightmare in which she can’t make friends and eventually even forgets her name.
However she discovers an ancient, dusty book under her pillow. The Book of Spells that enables her to meet the wild animals and the talking trees, and in so doing find herself and her name.
Jay reconnects with nature and is led around by a spivvy fox (Alex Wingfield), a real artful dodger if ever there was one, who shows her how to dine in style during his nocturnal tour of the bins.
The fox gets the best laughs when trying to sleep in an uncomfortable position only to be rudely awakened by a red crested woodpecker (Lucy James) who is given full reign for her drumming skills.
Jay strikes up a friendship with a brown hare (Toby De Salis) and meets a preening jackdaw (Paula James) on her magical journey of self-discovery.
The songs and music are easy on the ear, apart from Lucy’s drum solo. Remember the ear plugs for that one.
It is unusual for a production to have a long first act compared to a relatively short second act, but it’s this second act where it really comes together and, for the audience, is a spellbinding, join in and clap, experience in live theatre.
The Lost Spells urges its audience, young and old, to “keep the wild world in your heart”.
It ends its Keswick run tomorrow (June 3).
