Theatre Review: Fantastic Mr Fox

New adaptation by: Sam Holcroft

Music and Lyrics by: Arthur Darvill

Directed by: Maria Aberg

An impressive performance that genuinely embodies the heart and soul of Dahl’s message.

By Callum Hughes

For the majority of my life as a theatre maker I have never seen myself as an ‘expert’ in Theatre for Young Audiences of Theatre in Education. My training had little focus on making theatre for young people and I hadn’t enjoyed most of what had been on offer to me when I was growing up. This is something I reflect on with regret. When I graduated I was flung into the world of repertory theatre and whilst I was required to tackle hard hitting modern classics or dated (borderline bigoted) farces, I also got to discover the joy of decent story telling for young people, whether it be in the form of pantomime, family shows or TIE. Ever since I’ve harbored a respect and admiration for family entertainment that many turn their nose up at. I have also spent the last three and a half months working in China, a country desperately trying to bring Performing Arts into their curriculum despite years of political bullying and dismissal. Therefore, I am writing from the perspective of a theatre-maker who has just spent nearly a quarter of the year working with 120 young people who have a real thirst for story telling and expression.

Fresh off the plane from the People’s Republic and after only a few hours sleep, my friend and I found ourselves in Bath (preparing for the Bath Fringe Festival). After months away from it all we were keen to take in a bit of British Theatre and decided see what was on at the Theatre Royal on one of our evenings off from rehearsal. Being half term it was no surprise to see it was the hailed family show, Fantastic Mr. Fox. This new adaptation by Sam Holcroft, featuring original songs by Arthur Darvill would surely be the perfect half-term treat? I even had a friend in the cast so it was a good excuse for a pint afterwards. Whilst optimistic, I had a silent doubt in the back of my mind: what if it was just a load of old patronizing rubbish? What if it was twee and reductive? I am delighted to say my usual cynicism was quashed within the first two minutes of the show when the ‘birds’ (four ensemble members delivering exquisite close-harmonies anchored by Musical Director, Richie Hart) were interrupted by a dramatic gunshot, fatally striking one of them. The audience erupted with laughter – the children included. I knew then that this would probably have all the cheeky, gruesome darkness that runs through Roald Dahl’s brilliant body of work. The tone was set.

The original score is cracking. Because the piece is brand new, the cast have a real sense of ownership of the songs – speaking to Actor-musician Patrick Burbridge after the show, he said ‘It’s very rare that you get a chance to work so collaboratively on the music for a show like this. It’s a real gift’. And you can tell. The playfulness of the lyrics and cheeky musical arrangements evoke exactly the feelings one has when reading the book for the first time as a wide-eyed child.

The design, by Tom Scutt, is neither patronizing nor cheap (one of two things that rile me when seeing family shows). There is a wonderful uniformity between the animals in that they all don retro sporting gear – reflecting the physical nature of their personalities and the character traits that are born out of their species such as Rabbit’s 80’s leg warmers and dance get-up. The cause for many a belly laugh. It also sets apart the worlds of the humans and the animals very clearly, whilst personifying them. Their worlds may intertwine, however the farmers and the animals do not understand each other – and that is of course why all wars start is it not?

This brings me to the part of this piece that really spoke to me. There are clear political messages in this piece that cannot be ignored. In order to try and curb my ramblings, I’ve even made a list of just a few of the things I feel really hit home.

1. Every Animal has its purpose.

This is an integral piece of the puzzle that is Fantastic Mr Fox. We all have different skills sets. Whether it be that you’re good at jumping and running like Mr Fox himself, or whether you can hear bats like Mouse – without pooling our skills together we will never get to where we really want to be. We are all different and that’s worth celebrating. No?

1. There is no real value in the individual alone.

Most people are aware of John Donne’s old adage that ‘no man is an island,’ but sadly we live in a generation dragged up by the rhetoric of Thatcher’s ‘No such thing as a society, only the individual’. As a result Britain and the West in general struggles with its identity. Should we all be self-sufficient and deliberately ignore the needs of others? Or should we help our neighbour and be the ‘good Samaritan?’ The messages are mixed and no more so than for young minds who constantly receive conflicting moral teaching. In FMF it is made very clear that we need each other in order to get along, even if we don’t always realise it.

3. There is value in technology.

‘Kit’ the teenage fox-cub of Mr and Mrs Fox (ably played by the agile, endearing eighteen-year-old Jade Croot) spends most of the story feeling left out and useless. She can’t run and jump as well as her parents could at her age and she feels like a let down. She does however have a great knack for working out how human gadgets work – meaning that when the alarm system underneath the final farm is set off – she is the only one who knows how to disable it. I may be reading too much into this but many people fear technology whilst others embrace it. It’s an ever-evolving thing but it needn’t be blamed as a negative influence on our society. Technology brings us great things and that’s hard to remember when our leaders are holding it responsible for terrorism and moral erosion.

1. Age is an issue.

The relationship explored between Mr. and Mrs. Fox genuinely brought a tear to my eye. Not least because they reflect upon the days of the past where youth was on their side – but also because this production explores gender equality and the hardship that often comes with being a female in a male world. This Vixen sings of how difficult it is to see your body change through pregnancy and ageing. She sings of how difficult it was to go from being the one who taught Mr. Fox how to be fantastic to becoming simply Mr. Fox’s Wife. I genuinely think this discussion will resonate with people on an important level and it adds another level of class to the production. Even when Mr. Fox considers sacrificing himself for his friends and family, it takes Mrs. Fox to knock some sense into him and find a way out of his predicament.

The farmers really do represent everything our country is fed up of and has been since before Dahl penned his first draft. They squeal at the injustice of their barns being raided by the animals even though they wallow in their wealth. They focus their energy on nothing but their greed and thankfully in this story, they gain noting from their selfishness. If only Roald Dahl could write the outcome of our General Elections.

Fantastic Mr. Fox carries the spirit of Dahl in that it is just as enjoyable for the children as it is there parents. Kids can rarely attend the theatre on their own of course. This is savvy writing and savvy musicianship. I would thoroughly urge anyone to go and see this production before it ends in just five weeks. Perfect for children of all ages whether they be nine, or ninety.