REVIEW: The magic of Michael Morpurgo comes to The Hawth Theatre

Adapted to the stage by Stuart Paterson, Kensuke’s Kingdom tells the story of Michael, a young boy who goes on a fantastic sailing adventure with his parents around the world. Their dreams become a nightmare when the family’s boat is hit by a terrifying storm and Michael is thrown into the sea. Washed up alone on an island in the Pacific, he fights for survival before making a startling discovery. The island is already home to one extraordinary man.

The performance was directed by Parkwood Productions’ own Chloe Bond and it was the first performance I have attended at The Hawth Theatre that brought a tear to my eye - the story is definitely a tear jerker! It was superbly directed and immersed the audience into its heartfelt narrative.

The stand out element to this production was the use of puppetry to represent the animals of Kensuke’s Kingdom. Hats off to puppet maker, Raven Kaliana for creating the beautiful puppets which brought to life the animals of the play.

Not only did the puppets bring to life the animals of the story, but the puppeteers behind the Raven Kaliana’s creations mimicked the movements of the creatures excellently. This involved a lot of physical theatre and the comedy of play was often presented through the movements and noises of the puppets.This could be seen in Jo Calderwood’s performance as mother orangutan, Tomadachi.

Another impressive achievement of the performance was that the puppets were controlled by both the main ensemble, but also the community cast as well.

Two performances stood out in the play. This was Andrew Futaishi’s portrayal of Kensuke and Jamie Patterson’s portrayal of Michael. Towards the end of the performance, the two actors brought a real emotional connection to the stage and without giving any spoilers away, many of the audience members (including myself) were brought to tears.

One final element of the production which I would like to mention is that the community cast were once again very impressive and professional. The cast of young actors played their part in every aspect of the performance. Hats off to them.

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Although aimed at a younger audience, the play contained main themes that connected with the whole family. I have been to many Parkwood Productions’ now, and this was certainly the most emotional.