The story of an unlikely hero, who finds himself on a life-changing journey with his wise-cracking donkey and a feisty princess who does not want to be rescued, suits this group down to the ground.
Director and MD Joe Appleton has created a lively colourful production from his young cast. Shrek has lots of characters especially in ‘story land’ and this gives an opportunity to showcase lots of the students and their talents.
Relishing this chance are Abi Cassidy, Daisy Corcoran and Toby Cosgrove in the dual roles of the Germanic pigs and the ultra-cool blind mice – these 3 worked really well together.
David Bury shows great high heel skills as a sassy Wolf and Lily Saxelby showed the full range of her talents as the cute Gingy and with a power house vocal performance as the dragon. Elise Heron was excellent as a perky, perjuring Pinocchio with a great physical portrayal.
Amber Holdsworth, Niamh Heron and Luis Bate shone in supporting roles.
Choreographers Amy Appleton and Sarah Cosgrove showcased the dancing skills of this group especially in the group numbers which included a fantastic tap routine. I really loved how they brought humour to the numbers, particularly the Guards.
Josh Coffey is a wonderfully sarcastic and narcistic Lord Farquaad and I hope his knees recover from the week. His double act with Lucinda Farrell as Thelonius was fun to watch. As Fiona, Sammy Coffey demonstrates all her stunning vocal abilities, but it is great to see her having fun with the feisty, humorous side of Princess Fiona. The trio with Lila McCombie and Ellvie Kennedy as the young Fiona’s was lovely and the harmonies came out really well.
The stars of the show are Lucy Parkes as Donkey and Kyle Cooper as Shrek who have fantastic chemistry together and work well as a team. Lucy sings the part with gusto but maintained the physical side of the character throughout, particularly with her hooves – a superb performance.
Kyle is perfect in stature for the scary Ogre parts but comes into his own when portraying the more vulnerable side of Shrek including a poignant rendition of when words fail. Well done on the very hard Scottish accent too!
With the usual support from lighting, sound and the hard working chaperones, this Big Bright Beautiful World is at Lowther all this week.