Review: OZ, Tobacco Factory Theatres

The greatly anticipated Pins and Needles and Tobacco Factory Theatres co-production of OZ has now opened, with a jubilant press night on December 14.

We need not know that she married in ruby slippers and named her daughter Dorothy (she did in both cases) to realise that director Emma Earle’s love of the Frank L Baum story is at once tangible and profound.

From the outset, through a heady aesthetic mix of puppetry, costume and design from Zoe Squire, there is huge care and attention lavished on making this land of Oz as weird and wonderful as any child could imagine.

But devotees of the original will here be met with something new: we are in the same world, but not quite as we know it.

After Dorothy (Adiza Shardow) first finds herself in Oz, she meets the wonderfully costumed munchkins, led by Alison Fitzjohn who is sublime in the first of her many roles as the indomitable, and very funny, Great Witch of the North.

Lanterns hanging from the ceiling are lit in sequence around the room, changing colour as they go; plants grow towards the sky to reflect Dorothy’s influence on the world, and umbrellas draped in a scattergun mix of fabrics and materials are raised aloft and dangled upside down.

Dorothy meets the munchkins – photo: Mark Dawson

The production is perfectly placed in the round, with audiences situated to the north, south, east and west around Oz, “where there is only desert”.

The set is minimal, and instead, accompanying the multitude of characters that Dorothy meets on her travels down the yellow brick road, the atmosphere is largely manipulated through wonderfully imaginative, vibrant and seamlessly integrated lighting and sound design from Chris Swain and Jon Everett respectively (with excellent music by composer and theatre maker Jack Drewry).

There is magic too, in a supremely talented cast of just five actors switching effortlessly between characters and costumes as they accompany Dorothy on her journey. We meet winkies, munchkins, gatekeepers, ‘hammer heads’ and wolves.

Toto, however, is replaced in this production by Dorothy’s brother, who is out there, somewhere, when their boat ‘Over the Rainbow’ was destroyed in the floods. There are audience giggles at the repeated question from various cast members – “I thought there was supposed to be a dog in this?”

There is talent in abundance here, and masterful direction from Earle, assisted by Kate Pasco. The script from Earle, Squire and Sarah Henley is sharp and funny, and zips along, ably aided by retro video game tropes, funny repeated song refrains such as ‘this way, that way’ as the troop progress towards the Emerald City,  and a clever score that keeps the exposition to a minimum – satisfyingly it manages to be lots of ‘show’, and not too much ‘tell’.

All the key roles are delivered with aplomb and there is a softness to their characterisation that soon gets the audience on side as Dorothy and friends strive to succeed on their quest to find the wizard, and in so doing, to discover their true selves.

Alison Fitzjohn as the Great Witch of the North – photo: Mark Dawson

Dorothy is a very relatable hero, and Shardow brings out the humanity and empathy that make her character so memorable. Joseph Tweedale is an expressive Tinman, his whole body stiff and ungainly until his joints are oiled.

Georgina Strawson is a very affable and self-deprecating Scarecrow; Martin Bonger has a lot of fun as both the Wicked Witch of the West, and the purple tracksuited Wizard of Oz himself.

That said, if there are any scene stealing mentions, they should perhaps be given to Alison Fitzjohn’s Queenie, the lion who is all roar and no courage.

Georgina Strawson puppeteering – photo: Mark Dawson

Once kitted out in the requisite green specs, our merry band is swept away by the illusion and the magic of the emerald city. “Welcome to our perfect city our sparkling happy city,” chorus the residents as they dance around in inventively choreographed lightstick parade.

But, as Earle told Bristol24/7 when we caught up during rehearsals, when Dorothy manages to prize off the compulsory glasses and the myth is duly debunked, “the wizard starts to feel less like a doddery old man behind a curtain, and more like an Orwellian dictator”.

Adiza Shardow as Dorothy and Joseph Tweedale as Toto – photo: Mark Dawson

OZ is imaginatively portrayed through a giant face outlined in the dark by rope lights and collectively moved, repositioned and rebuilt by the cast – a portent perhaps that the wizard will later show himself to be decidedly less than the sum of these confoundingly impressive parts.

Throughout the production, the narrative concerns itself with ideas of home and belonging, and there are echoes of the refugee crisis in the symbolism of Dorothy and Toto clinging to the fragments of their boat.

For Earle, this takes on an added significance in the recent context we find ourselves in: “Home can be a place, a sense of family, a community, a state of mind,” she reflects. “And it is particularly resonant post pandemic with all the physical and emotional isolation people have experienced.”

Inside the Emerald City – photo: Mark Dawson

Despite the more serious strands that you can read into the show, ultimately, and quite rightly, it is a childlike sense of wonder that you leave with. With OZ, Pins and Needles have created an exuberant, inclusive story of the power of humanity and community, full of heart and brimming over with festive cheer.

If you’re anything like me you’ll skip excitedly out of the theatre like Dorothy and her friends down the yellow brick road.

OZ (recommended for 6+) is at Tobacco Factory Theatres, Raleigh Rd, Southville, Bristol, BS3 1TF through to January 16, 2022. There are a number of matinees, socially distanced shows, schools shows, as well as some BSL interpreted performances and some relaxed performances. Tickets are available at www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com.

Main image: Mark Dawson

Read more: Follow the yellow brick road to Southville this Christmas

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