| The Ozard of Wiz by Richard Berry |
| First presented in 2006 by Hijinx Theatre |
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cast size:
synopsis: Odyssey Theatre summer extravaganza! The Ozard of Wiz Written and Directed by Richard Berry 22nd – 24th June 2006 Weston Studio at Wales Millennium Centre |
There are 2 reviews of Hijinx Theatre's The Ozard of Wiz in our database:
| Hilarious chaos and pure charm | |
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The Ozard of Wiz
by Richard Berry
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[print] |
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venue Wales Millennium Centre , Weston Studio |
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June 27, 2006 |
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| Hiinx Theatre, however challenging their work maybe, celebrates life and human achievement. Their Odyssey productions are remarkable achievements and some of the most divinely chaotic celebrations you’ll see on any stage. On this occasion writer/director Richard Berry takes us all on a trip down a yellow brick road that leads to? Well somewhere where there’s great fun to be had but which side of the rainbow we are on it is hard to make out. When we look at the titles of previous Odyssey productions, The Squeeking Beauty, The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly, A Space Oddity etc. we see how they get hold of a well-known story, subvert it,turn it on its head, inside out and backwards with many moments of fun and near nihilism exploding all around the stage. The core of the company, which invites participation from any one who feels they can make a contribution, is the opportunities it gives to its large cast of actors with learning difficulties who might not otherwise find the same chances to display their remarkable understandings and talents. As we enter the auditorium we are persuaded that we are going into an early twentieth century cinema with its flickering screen and a highly strung cinema manager, given a nice touch of frantic comedy by Nick Llewellyn. But soon the whirlwind sweeps us towards the land of Wiz! With a musical background provided by musicians from Canton and Riverside Services, under the direction of Laura Bradshaw, projected excerpts from the original film and the news of the proceedings read by Sara Edwards, Dorothy’s extraordinary adventure begins. Dorothy is beautifully played by Kirsty Rosser and along with her partner Mgiuela Gonzalez a captivating Toto they finally overcome all the mayhem that besets them. Dorothy’s adventures closely echo those of Judy Garland. The Munchkins here are much more anarchic, satirising a well-known fast food outlet with whom they share an initial letter but to protect the company against copyright law the symbol is presented upside-down. Upside-down is the way much of the fun is presented in this production, there’s a particular spirit of bewildered curiosity that is shared as much by us in the audience as it is by the cast on the stage. But the subversive Munchkins manage to reward Dorothy with the iconic red shoes. Now with Ilario Siciliano’s creaking Tin-Man and Martin Vick’s unscary scarecrow and an engaging timid lion from Luana Dee, Dorothy finds herself in need of some serious help but before matters can be resolved we are treated to some big chorus numbers of some of the songs from the film in a way you will never have seen or heard such songs performed before. This Ozard creature looks remarkably like a well-known, long black haired, dark sunglassed pop star and TV pundit with a wife with a shock of red hair called Sharona. Although they don’t, thankfully display their usual vulgar language they are very menacing. So the large cast assemble on stage and set to, to sort out the problem in the way that only Odyssey can. So from out of this hilarious chaos our lion roars with courage and the real Wizard of Oz appears and sets Dorothy on her way back to Kansas City, just as our ribs are reaching the stage where they might not be able to stand anymore tickling. To underline the very real talent that lies within this company we epilogue with a most pure and charming rainbow song from the very accomplished vocal chords of Amy White. |
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| reviewer: Michael Kelligan |
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| Ambitious, relatively large-scale and with a serious message | |
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The Ozard of Wiz
by Richard Berry
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[print] |
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venue Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff |
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July 3, 2006 |
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| Now Odyssey Theatre programmes are usually pretty anarchic events. Think Edward Lear-like nonsense staged with plenty of enthusiastic impro by a cast who only get on stage for events such as this – mayhem, in other words, and thoroughly enjoyed equally by audiences and participants. Odyssey is, after all, an ad hoc group organised (as far as it can be) by Hijinx Theatre as part of that company’s commitment to involving in theatre those members of the community who don’t often get the opportunity, and despite the best efforts of the professionals the resulting entertainment is inevitably chaotic, not to say dangerous. But this time the challenge to convention is actually part of the plot. Richard Berry’s wildly subversive take on The Wizard of Oz in the wmc’s Weston Studio is a surrealistic radical romp and rage against materialist society. It starts familiarly enough, with clips from the MGM film on a large screen to help us remember how Dorothy and Toto ended up on the Yellow Brick Road from their Kansas farmstead. But this turns out to be deceptive and the significance of the final moments of the first act, after the Munchkins are met, the wicked witch countered and the Wizard exposed, when Dorothy is tempted away from her companions by a Santa Claus dangling a coke bottle, is revealed after the interval. In a second half that is nearly three times as long as the first, our heroine finds herself in a parallel world where it isn’t the Wizard of Oz who rules but the Ozard of Wiz – Wiz being the place and its ruler being that familiar long-haired foul-mouthed ex-heavy metal star with his scarey wife and dysfunctional teenage kids. Ozzie rules a land dedicated to consumerism, a land of Coca Cola, shopping and the environmental devastation that accompanies it all, such as deforestation – the sort of thing, of course, that created the Mid-West Dustbowl that was the backdrop to the original Wizard of Oz musical as much as to The Grapes of Wrath. It’s a quite brilliant twist on the pro-American Dream that Frank Baum’s classic became in Hollywood’s hands, the savagery of the satire masked by a fixed smile of humour… but at the same time, like so much effective social criticism, an attack that is effected with great enjoyment by the perpetrators. But it isn’t just the anger, albeit tempered by the author’s good humour, of this witty and sharp satire on corporate capitalism that makes the latest Odyssey show the best to date – it’s the fact that Mr Berry knows his constituency well enough to involve everyone without any discomfort or patronising to a far greater extent than previous productions. It may be ambitious, relatively large-scale and with a serious message, but no-one is sidelined in this inclusive production and the stars really are those performers who have learning disabilities. Ironically if the show has faults they lie with the professionals – the digital visual trickery doesn’t always work, there are scenes that need editing, songs that go on too long and sometimes an uneven pace that can test our engagement with this skewed epic musical. But just in case anyone thought this was just a comedy, there’s an ending as chilling as any as that footage of the devastation of the Mid-West and the ensuing denuding of the land and its social consequences flickers on the screen after Dorothy and her friends have left the stage. |
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| reviewer: David Adams |
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