Review: The Magician's Elephant, at the RSC, Stratford-Upon-Avon

It's December! And as a nice Christmas treat, we had a day out to Stratford-Upon-Avon as a family. Which of course included a theatre trip. The RSC has been quiet since the pandemic, until just a couple of weeks ago, when their latest show opened: The Magician's Elephant, a brand new work based off the children's book by Kate DiCamillo, written by Nancy Harris and Marc Teitler. 

The RSC has had pretty high success with musicals based on kids books, notably Matilda, as well as The Boy in the Dress (which was rumoured to have a West End transfer planned before the lockdown happened); so as a result, there was a lot of excitement around this. 

The story is set in the land of Baltese. As we hear from the show's Narrator (played by Amy Booth-Steele (Dick Wittington), it is a town where nothing really happens, and is impoverished from war a few years before. In the town we meet a young boy named Peter, who has been having mysterious dreams, and after meeting a fortune teller is told one thing: follow the elephant. Only, there are no elephants in Baltese.... 

Until a magician accidentally summons an elephant rather than lilies. Of course. 

Before going any further, I feel I need to mention I haven't read the book, so will only be commenting the show as it is rather than an adaptation. 

This may be based off a kids book, but it's actually quite dark. Like some of the best children books are (eg: Roald Dahl, Harry Potter etc), but it is one I probably wouldn't recommend for younger children. It has its wonderous moments, but also its sad ones. The penultimate line in the first act for example nearly made me tear up. 

Now on to the elephant in the room (no pun indented, but literally). The puppet is just as realistic and imaginative as Joey and Topthorn in War Horse. Designer Tracy Waller, and puppeteers Zoe Halliday, Wela Mbusi and Suzanne Nixon all did such good job in giving the elephant a distinct personality, as well as showing its fear at its unknown environment/being summoned out of nowhere and then being a tourist attraction. 

As well as the elephant itself, what wowed me the most was actually the setting. Baltese itself is quite a bleak place, where poverty is rife, and where there's a huge gap between classes. They really highlighted that in the sets and costumes, sticking to greys, navy blues and muted tones in the citizens. 

In the aristocratic costumes, such as the Count and Countess, are in black and white. The only colour you get is in the Narrator's costumes, but even they are more a muted shade rather than bright. 

Set-wise, it is similar as the costumes with a lot of grey, but brightened up with lots of warm white light, a lot of it in traditional lanterns and similar. It's simple, but effective; which is why it could be one of my favourite sets this year. 

The Magician's Elephant is a story that has a fairly large cast, but it's centre is a young boy named Peter; played by Jack Wolfe, he had a lovely innocence as well as a determination to find the elephant and fulfil what the fortune teller told him. Wolfe in turn had the most gorgeous singing voice. He's one I want to keep my eye on for sure. 

In its ensemble, we had a range of of eclectic characters, including Marc Antolin (Romantics Anonymous) as best boy Leo, Melissa James (Gypsy) as his wife Gloria, Alison Arnopp (u/s) covering the role of the popularity-obsessed Countess Quintet, and Sam Harrison (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) as her hapless husband. 

In the case of Leo and Gloria, I hoped to have seen a bit more of them as they try to help Peter on his mission, but it was likely the case there as so much to adapt and put in, there wasn't a lot of room. With the Count and Countess however, the comparison that springs to mind is the Baron and Baroness Bomburst from Chitty. They are very over the top, and rather goofy; whether that be the jealousy the Countess showed towards a rival, or her husband hiding from her in the elephant's room. 

If you are in Stratford/nearby area, or like me fancied a day trip, I would definitely give The Magician's Elephant a shot. I had no idea what to expect from this, but I certainly wasn't expecting the story to be as dark and emotional as it was. It does have that "magic can happen" type message at the end, but then again, it is based off a kid's book... And it is Christmas soon. 

Plus, the other reason to support this because it is brand new. Especially coming out of this bloody pandemic, I feel it is going to be more important than ever to support brand new pieces, particularly family ones. 

The Magician's Elephant is running at the RSC theatre until 1st January 2022