After a leisurely picnic on a beautiful summer evening in the stunning grounds of Hever Castle in Kent, we head across to the Festival Theatre, a temporary open-air theatre which, for the more inclement evenings, is mostly under cover, to see a musical adaptation of H.G.Wells’ The Time Machine performed, as a radio play, by Laurence Owen and Lindsay Sharman.
We are back in the heyday of the radio play, the 1950’s, and we first meet the radio show’s producer, Miss Carrie, who is awaiting the arrival of her guest to make the recording. The set for the Radio Woking studio is quite spartan, but that works well as the focus is totally on the two characters and their dialogue. In the role of Miss Carrie, and with tongue firmly placed in cheek, Sharman sets the scene, and the tone, of the evening perfectly well.
Laurence Owen, as the cable-knit cardigan wearing George Herbert, is a fantastic character performer for, at the same time as he narrates the original story, playing the lead part of the Time Traveller, he also brings to life a number of guests at a dinner party and, through his incredibly energetic performance and superbly descriptive dialogue, helps us to create the vivid imagery of a land 800,000 years in the future.
In this future land the population has evolved into two distinct races. The small and fragile flower loving Eloi and the underground cave dwelling Morlock who, at the same time as providing the Eloi with clothes and shoes, prey on them for food. There are parallels drawn with what we know as the “class system”, but this is touched on only lightly.
Large parts of the original novel are recited verbatim but they are interspersed with cleverly written musical numbers that not only assist with the storytelling but also allow Owen to show off his tremendously good “lower baritone” voice. Meanwhile, seated across the stage, Miss Carrie assists with some very authentic sound effects, which are created by using a number of unlikely items laid out on a table next to her.
The whole “radio play” scenario works really well, with the self penned “advert breaks” yet another very amusing highlight in what is a spectacularly entertaining show, appreciated by an audience that seems to cover every age from 9 to 90.
The impeccable timing that is involved in performing the entire 70 minute show to a pre-recorded backing track of background noises, character voices and additional sound effects, is just stunning to witness but, to be really honest, the highlight of the show for me was hearing the sound of an entire group of Morlock feasting recreated by Sharman getting very close to the microphone and scoffing down two huge apples as if she hadn’t eaten for a month.
This simple but superbly effective performance is the perfect theatrical opening to what promises to be five weeks of amazingly diverse entertainment, carefully put together by Hever Festival’s new Director, Ailsa Molyneux.
***** Five Stars