Mike Pyefinch, who plays the part of the Mysterious Man, is surrounded by (from left) Emily Robertson, Elise McDouall, Megan Shorto and Victoria Aspinall.
There are two things I really liked about the latest production at Repertory Theatre: firstly, it was a family show in a very real sense with parents onstage with their children and children often sharing the stage with siblings.
And secondly, director Polly Pyefinch included everyone who auditioned. Little children
got their first taste of treading the boards... and some of the adults were first-timers too.
The two mean old aunts (played by Mark Morton and Aimee Holloway) proved to be a great laugh. I’ll bet they had fun being cranky old ladies because we had fun watching from the auditorium.
I particularly liked the underwater scene where James jumped overboard to rescue the giant centipede. All sorts of beautiful fish swam around them but they were in danger from the octopus. First he grabbed the centipede then he grabbed James, who valiantly fought the octopus off .
All involved in the production of James and the Giant Peach deserve hearty congratulations. As well as working onstage there’s a lot of time and effort that goes on backstage, weeks of work, so thanks to all concerned and thanks to the parents who brought their children in to the theatre for rehearsals.
