Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

As their family home is bombed at the opening of this classic story, the three orphaned Rawlins children are reluctantly evacuated from wartime London to live in safety with the mysterious Eglantine Price… a lady with more than one trick up her sleeve. After initial reservations, the discovery of a magic bedknob sets the children on a whirlwind journey in search of a secret spell to defeat an ever-nearing enemy.

Stunning design and flawless direction ensure this production delights, from the wartime bombing of the Rawlins children’s home, the hustle and bustle of Portobello Road, to the ballroom at the bottom of the briny sea. The set has more choreography than the cast and it works a treat! Clever theatrics make the impossible possible – broomstick shenanigans and a flying bed are seamlessly brought to reality with no visible mechanics to tarnish the magic. Dianne Pilkington leads as Miss Eglantine Price, the role immortalised on film by Angela Lansbury, but one she very much makes her own, stern but with a twinkle of magic in her eye. Charles Brunton ensures Emelius Browne is suitably larger than life and fills the stage with light-hearted enthusiasm. Conor O’Hara is the very cockney eldest child Charlie, now the man of the family keeping a close, protective eye on his talented younger siblings.

As the enemy heads ever closer, from moonlit silhouette to the faceless, gun-wielding, black-garbed invasion of the village, it’s hard not to think of what is happening in the world today – an unexpectedly poignant moment. If only Miss Price could send her magic beyond the walls of the theatre...

However, this is theatre and it is time to start believing. The magic of Disney shines bright in Salford – a glorious evening of joyous escapism.

Garry Thomas-Lowde for Canal St Media

Details and tickets here 

Published: 17-Mar-2022 (6581)