Shrek The Musical
SARAH MILNE AND OUR ROVING REPORTERS
The Summer Youth Project at White Rock has become one of the highlights of my theatrical year. I am always amazed by what can be achieved in just two weeks with a group of enthusiastic, committed and talented children and young people, supported by their adult production and creative team. This year’s production of Shrek the Musical was no exception.
This time, I was joined by two young budding reviewers, Una, aged eight, and Effie, aged six, who were watching the show with their grandparents. Their verdict is an important part of this review.
The production itself was quite a feat. With around 100 young performers involved, there were moments when the stage was packed, yet the whole enterprise was impressively managed. There were numerous songs, plenty of dialogue and a great deal to learn in a very short rehearsal period, but everyone seemed to know exactly where they were meant to be and what they were meant to say. Above all, there was a real sense of enthusiasm from the cast.
Josh Stevens and Amerleigh Peacock made an engaging central pair as Shrek and Princess Fiona. Both held their characters and accents well throughout, while Amerleigh brought a particularly strong Disney-princess quality to Fiona, combining confident acting with lovely singing.
Una’s favourite was Donkey, played by Jordan Phillips. “He was very funny,” she said, particularly enjoying his take on Eddie Murphy’s distinctive accent. His performance had plenty of energy and warmth and was clearly a hit with the younger members of our reviewing panel.
The familiar world of fairy tales was brought to life with an effective video backdrop, some lovely costumes and, of course, a dragon puppet. Una and Effie particularly enjoyed spotting all the well-known nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters, including Pinocchio, the Three Little Pigs and the Gingerbread Man. Thankfully, the dragon was judged exciting rather than too scary.
The show’s message – that it is okay to be different and that appearances are not everything – came through strongly and seemed to resonate with this young audience.
For Una and Effie, the best moments were the scenes between Shrek and Fiona. They loved the duet I Think I Got You Beat, the burping contest, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, all the fart jokes. Sometimes you simply cannot compete with that level of comedy when you’re six and eight.
Watching through their eyes was a reminder of exactly what the Summer Youth Project does so well: it gives young people the chance to take on a huge challenge, work together and create something that brings real enjoyment to audiences of all ages.
I wonder what the team have up their sleeve for next year? Whatever it is, I’m already looking forward to finding out.
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