Discworld and Member Articles
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Was this better left on the printed page?
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Written by terrypratchettbooks.org
Friday, 29 July 2005 |
from The Cornishman
Terry Pratchett's wyrd sisters
From its pre-curtain warm up, which introduces us to most of its characters and costumes and so eliminates any element of surprise, to its final firework which, on its opening night was literally a damp squib, the Yorkshire-based Ilkley Players' presentation of Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters is seriously weird.
A pantomime with three dames, adapted for the stage by Stephen Briggs from the sixth in best-selling author Terry Pratchett's series of Discworld novels, and directed by Mike Sellers, it is a production in which a great deal is said about but little is seen of magic.
True, there is the occasional flash, bang and wallop, and it is witty, Terry Pratchett's Discworld is very funny - part of the fun lies in spotting the Shakespearean references, Macbeth to Richard III, in the play itself and the plays within the play - but while the very most is made of the many jokes, the aural and the visual, while laughing you would be wise to fasten your safety belt for the ride it offers on the witches' broomsticks is a bumpy one.
To be fair, the production does put over well the sub-text, one with a contemporary meaning, the importance of the 'power of words', and there are some good touches, from the flying witches to the 15 years long kiss, and it is redeemed by several fine performances, notably from Jan Hilditch, Denise McGregor and Sam Hill, each of whom flies a mean broomstick as the "hag-ridden" Wyrd Sisters; Nick Pennington as the wild-eyed, fearful and fearsome, murderous Duke of Lamcre; Andrew Leggott as the extravagant actor manager Olwyn Vitoller, and Nick Green as the '17 years under the bladder', belled and likeable Fool. A hand, too, for Patrick Hebbert, who as Death displays cool courage and a head for heights.
However, as hard as all these, indeed, everyone concerned, work, long before the rightful ruler of Lancre is found and crowned, it is likely that you will be questioning the wisdom of bringing the inhabitants of Terry Pratchett's fantastic and fictional world to the stage, and wondering if they would have been better left on the printed page, as figments of your imagination, for nothing disguises the fact that two hours or so, let alone a week as one of the characters says, is a long time in magic.
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