Aerial photograph of Barnard Castle
Price:£7.99
The Hobbit - Darlington Civic Theatre
Mar 24, 2010
THE action begins with an unexplained fight scene, before the story begins to unfold. Bilbo Baggins, played by Peter Howe, is chosen by Gandolf, Sorcerer of Middle Earth, played by Christopher Robbie, to help Thorin Oakenshield, played by Andrew Coppin regain his Kingdom. There begins an incredibly long journey for the cast and audience.
The set initially looks impressive, but as it turns into every part of the landscape for their journey, you notice the occasional wobble and the sensation of travelling with the cast loses its impact after it has revolved several times.
This was a rare performance as it is only once before that I can remember the curtain falling at the interval to a deafening silence, which was not helped as the curtain attached itself to the scenery. A slight ripple of applause, though, did follow as the house lights came on.
The opening to the second half was every arachnophobe's worst nightmare with a giant spider suspended from the flies. However, having to watch the spider, played by Christopher Llewellyn, being unhooked from the flying wires at the side of the stage was just another of the many mistakes during the evening. The flying wires were a distraction every time they were used, as they were so visible in the wings that they diverted you from any onstage action.
That said, the costumes were excellent, as was the dragon, though some smoke and fire would have helped the effect as well as not being able to see the mouth operator. The music added atmosphere but it was unnecessarily loud.
The cast were energetic and gave good quality performances and the audience enjoyed their version of a morris dance, which was one of the highlights, unfortunately the cast and audience were badly let down by the technical side of the production.
A J Harrison