Running Wild at the Royal & Derngate Northampton Review

Reviewed by Zoey Caldwell

I had the privilege to take my young family to the Royal & Derngate in Northampton to watch the stage adaptation of the Michael Morpurgo book, Running Willd.

I think it is important to know that none us had read the book, or to be honest any of his books. So other than the wonderful promotional poster of Oona & Lilly and the knowledge that Michael also wrote the enormously famous War Horse we had no idea what was about to entertain us for a couple of hours.

Our seats in the stalls were fantastic; a few rows back from stage and central. Straight away the stage caught all of our eyes. Paul Wills needs to be commended on the set design. My eldest wondered if they had gone around and asked people for their rubbish. It does look like a mass collection of a rag bone man, but of course the relevance of this becomes clearer later in the show –  those that have read the book will have understood from the start.

The story centres on Lilly a 9-year-old daddy’s girl that loves nature, Chelsea FC and more than anything her father. Unfortunately, her soldier father doesn’t return from what should have been his last tour with the army and leaves a very hurt, head strong child with a head full of questions that her mother cannot answer. Granma suggests to her daughter in law that to try and heal some of the gaping hole in Lilly’s heart that mother and daughter should visit Indonesia, so Lilly can see exactly where her mother is from and learn about that side of her heritage, and possibly just possibly an elephant. Lilly’s favourite.

Seamless change of scenery and costume change for Lilly’s mum portrayed by Balvinder Sopal, nostalgic and dreamy describing the beauty of an Indonesian beach, relaxed to be home and then, well then we meet Oona. The puppetry is magical. The puppet is amazing- Oona’s eyes, according to the elephant trainer Mahout an elephant communicates through its eyes and as impossible as it is for an inanimate object Oona’s eyes do communicate. I cannot explain how truly wonderful Oona’s head is. Finn Caldwell puppetry designer must be top of his game because I am in awe of the artistry that was involved in recreating Oona (just the tip of iceberg).

The puppeteers work as a well-oiled team to move the elephant with grace and precision. All is well in Lilly’s life and finally her mother and her seem relaxed. It is short lived. Darkness, noise, madness ensues as the cast dance and move around the stage, fear and junk being moved around to dramatically portray the true nightmare of the tsunami. It is dark and loud so be prepared if you have children that are noise/dark sensitive.

A true friendship develops between the elephant that saved her life and Lilly deep in the rainforest. Lilly comes to terms with the fact deep down there was no way that her mother would have survived the wave and her own survival skills set in. The fishing trips with dad pay off as she bags herself some food. More puppetry ensues, fish, crocodile, birds, a whole family of orangutans and a magnificent beast of a tiger. Each animal is beautifully portrayed. The orangutans are playful and play a large part in the remaining storyline, the tiger is dangerous yet magnificent and the actors are outstanding.

The whole story turns dark, really serious when hunters appear. These are not cartooned up by the actors so be warned that some scenes may not be comfortable to watch. The bravado, and the treatment of Lilly is dark. The appearance of Mr Anthony is fevered and the fear is felt in the presence of this evil money driven Palm Oil tycoon that has no morals. None. Jack Sandle plays this role brilliantly and the character rightly so, is vilified. Not in a pantomime way in a fabulous enlightening way that educates the audience to the truth that behind the local hunters or poachers there is a dark underbelly of overtly rich, morally poor evil that will stop at nothing to get richer. Not even the murder of a young, orphaned girl.

This is not the end of the story, but I have retold enough of it already. Go watch the actors and the puppeteers.

Tonight was a totally different performance than my family and I are used to. We go to ligh-hearted performances to make us laugh. So many more emotions are unravelled in this performance. This story is so full. What I mean by that is, it is full of grief, friendship, bravery, evil, goodness and the most complicated but basic of all human emotions love. Love of each other, love for the planet, love for its nature and its wildlife. It will educate the younger visitors and maybe some of the older ones of the depravity that is involved in the production of Palm Oil.

It has a message or at least that is what I have taken away from it.

I cannot review this without crediting India Brown, this young girl gives her all as Lilly. Lilly is headstrong, bolshie and knows her mind more than most 9 year olds that I have met and India shows a maturity and confidence on stage that meant that it didn’t look like acting- it looked like a little girl lost, angry at the world and I applaud her for that. For the cast members that portray more than one character they do it effortlessly.

The professionalism in every detail of this production is fabulous and it would be just as comfortable in the West End as touring in smaller local theatres. Well done to all involved.

Rating: 5/5

Tickets cost from £12.50 to £27 (booking fees may apply).

Running Wild is at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton from 23-27 May 2017, for more information or to book tickets visit www.royalandderngate.co.uk or call the box office on 01604 624811.

Royal & Derngate, Guildhall Road, Northampton, NN1 1DP | 01604 624811