Do you believe in fairies?
Always one for a new musical, and in this case, based on a tale I know well. The Cottingley Fairies relates to events from the early 20th century about two girls who convinced the world (and in particular, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) that fairies were real. I remember this from my youth and the magazine, The Unexplained, around 1980. It was in this publication that one of the girls, now elderly, revealed that they had faked the photos (No shit, Sherlock, if you forgive the pun, Sir Arthur). Having said that, it was still a magical idea and well suited for transformation onto the stage.
My first visit to the Patrick Studio at the Birmingham Hippodrome which I enjoyed, sat on the front row, fully immersed into the whole experience. With some excellent scenery and props, you really did feel like you were part of procedings. It was also my first time sampling British Youth Musical Theatre who worked with Clare Packham (Writer/Co-Lyricist) and Fintan Kealy (Composer/Co-Lyricist), who are part of Cameron Mackintosh’s Resident Writing Team Placement. The result — an intriguing and most enjoyable production.
Told mostly through song and dance movement, there was a real feel of folk with a fair bit of prog rock thrown in. This worked well concerning the subject matter and I loved the imagery of the fairies as they surrounded the characters in a dreamlike fantasy state. By the end, you really wanted the story to be true, and such was the effect, those fairies were real enough to me. I enjoyed how the older and younger versions of the two girls interacted, the audience getting a solid feel of a story being told by the elder ones. We had turmoil, poignancy of loss during wartime, and a fair bit of humour at times, all delivered well by an outstanding cast.
Nicole Cammack was exceptional as Young Frances (Bearing an uncanny likeness to the real one, too) as was Blaize Middleton in the role of Elsie. For their older counterparts, strong performances came from both Danielle Kelly-Honey (Frances) and Fern Mellor (Elsie). Supporting well though were Scott Hawthorne as the duped Conan Doyle, Gwen Pritchard-Thomas (Annie Griffiths), Zack Went (Edward Gardner), Isla Jones (Polly Wright) and Caitlyn Hamilton (Arthur Wright). However, an ensemble of more than 30 also played their part in the whole magical experience. At the helm in production were Ewa Dina (Director), Jacob Savage (Musical Director), and Hannah Fairclough (Choreographer). Credit must also be given to the amazing costumes and set (Lu Herbert), effective lighting (Rachel E Cleary) and solid sound (Sam Levy).
So, did I believe in fairies afterwards? Not exactly, but it is a nice idea. However, I did believe in British Youth Musical Theatre, and I shall be watching with interest in the future. Overall, a wonderful outing to Yorkshire of 100 years ago and a production I shall remember for a long time.
Cheers.
Antony N Britt
*Photos taken from social media and the internet.
Antony N Britt - Author 