The Witches at The Lowry Manchester Review
The Witches
The Lowry, Manchester
21-26 March 2016
Reviewed by Michelle Wright
Last night we were invited to the opening evening of The Witches – the scariest of Roald Dahl’s stories comes to life on stage at the Lowry Theatre.
The audiences’ participation was requested right from the off as one of the cast enters onto the stage from the back of the auditorium shouting hello to everyone – a happy, fun beginning, only to have the mood changed immediately when the play starts as the realisation that Boy has just lost his parents in a car accident and is to be brought up by his Grandma who lives in Norway. However his parents will states he must grow up in England so they both make a move to the UK to start their new lives together.
Grandma becomes ill and is told to take a rest by the sea to recuperate but little do they know that their chosen hotel, the Magnificent, is actually the venue for the The Witches AGM! Will Boy be able to stop The Witches wicked plan to change all the children to mice?
The show contained lots of music and singing – not that it is a musical but you could be forgiven to believe that that was its intention. The songs are fun and light-hearted. But the story is actually a mixture of humour (and there were parts that were very funny) and darkness, as the witches hatch their evil plan. But to be fair, even the witches were funny! These crazy wig-wearing witches, stooped around the stage, leering into the audience whilst scratching their bums – not at all scary as in the film.
Our favourite witch has to be Sarah Ingram who plays the Grand High Witch. With her fantastic sudo-German accent on ‘Vitches’, her dramatic speeches and her incredibly funny facial expressions we are almost duped into liking the most evil characters in the play! But fear not – she gets her dastardly end as she falls into the pot of pea soup – still not 100% sure how they pulled off that illusion on stage!
We were really impressed with the props in the second part of the show, which helped to show that Boy and his friend Bruno were actually little tiny mice by being set against large balls of wool and Quality Street chocolates.
The whole cast of seven worked really hard, but in our opinion, credit has to be given to Sarah Ingram (The Grand High Witch – already mentioned) and to Elexi Walker, who played so many roles, our favourite being the hilarious Scouse talking mum of Bruno (impressive bendiness)!
As the show finished Boy and Bruce ran into the audience high fiving some of the children, my daughter included, which just made her night!
The Witches is recommended for children age 7 and over. The show lasts approx 90 mins so as it starts at 7pm, our evening wasn’t too late, a consideration especially on a ‘school night’.
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £10 to £17 (includes £2 booking fee).
The Witches is at The Lowry in Manchester until 26 March 2016. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 0843 208 6000.
The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays, Manchester, M50 3AZ | 0843 208 6000
