The Witches

The Grand High Witch arrives in England intent on turning all children into mice!

The Witches is based on the dark fantasy book by Roald Dahl, so you know you are in for a crazy ride.

Directed by Leah Osburn, in her fifth production for Beaumaris Theatre, she said directing this show was “…both a joy and a privilege…Roald Dahl’s The Witches is a masterclass in storytelling that dares to be bold, dark, and wildly imaginative. Dahl wrote this tale to empower children by showing them that courage, cleverness, and love can triumph over even the most sinister forces. Beneath the thrilling surface of witches lies a deeper message about resilience. This is a faithful adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic story in which Boy and his grandmother defeat the Grand High Witch and her followers, who are holding a conference in an English seaside hotel.”

Grandmother, played with an admirable accent by Denise McDonough, tells her grandson, Boy, a confident theatre debut by Alexander Coghlan, that witches are real and can be identified by their having claws instead of fingernails, no toes, and are bald underneath their wigs. They can sniff out the children they hate who smell like dog’s droppings to them.

The witches conceal themselves as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and are having a convention at the same hotel as Boy and Grandmother. The Grand High Witch was played by a delightfully over-the-top Emma Blake, who must also be congratulated with her ability to fill the theatre with her witch cackle.

Boy overhears the Grand High Witch and the witches planning to turn all children into mice. Boy and Bruno are captured and turned into mice, but with Grandmother, they hatch a plan to use the potion on the witches themselves. The play ends with Grandmother and Boy at home, where Boy is still a mouse, but he is fine with that, as he does not want to outlive his Grandmother.

Kudos to the comic turn by Oliver Prince as the hotel doorman and his interactions with Jack Van Vuuren as Boy’s friend, Bruno, and Amelie Newport as the puppeteer expertly working the mice puppets on stage. The large ensemble of witches played their parts with great enthusiasm and zeal, and loud witch cackles. It was one of the fun moments when the entire group of witches removed their wigs to reveal baldness below. The mixed-age audience enjoyed the show and laughed a great deal.

Beaumaris Theatre must be congratulated on presenting its 307^th production since 1953. They are a testament of the importance to communities of good local theatre companies.

Jane Court