On Friday I went to Southwark Playhouse to see Howl’s Moving
Castle, featuring narration by Stephen Fry and music by Fyfe Dangerfield.
Stylistically this was a fantastic production. The set was designed to act as a
projector screen for the animation and cinematic imagery that were the main
drivers of the production. With a cardboard construction of Howl’s castle in
the centre, the stage was purposefully plain to allow the actors to interact
with the projections, which they did so in a skilful and witty manner; the
combination of live action with technical and well-executed visuals and
voiceovers worked to perfection.
Howl (Daniel Ings) and Old Sophie (Susan Sheridan) delivered
stunning performances that really brought the much-loved characters from Diana
Wynne-Jones’ book to life for me. Howl was wonderfully flamboyant and exactly
as I pictured him in my mind when I read the book. Also there were elements
that reminded me of the (also adored) Studio Ghibli production of the same
story: Howl’s coat was reminiscent of the feathers of Ghibli’s Howl-in-flight
look and I think my favourite scene was Howl’s temper tantrum that resulted in
a (projected) green slime meltdown after Sophie’s over-enthusiastic cleaning.
On top of the great performance, the venue itself only added
to the magical darkness of Ingary – The Vault is a converted warehouse
underneath the railway station and felt aptly atmospheric. The only downside
for me was that the performance was fairly short (I suspect a result of the
painstaking hours that must have been needed to create the visual effects) and
so a lot of the story was compromised as a consequence. Nonetheless it was
definitely worth watching.
Elloise Hopkins.
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