Theatre and dance

Review: Terry Pratchett's The Fifth Elephant

By Hugh Terry
January 18, 2013

Terry Pratchett's The Fifth Elephant
Progress Theatre, Reading
Thursday, January 17

Watch out! There's a dwarf coronation coming up, a senseless murder has been committed and the fake Scone of Stone has gone missing.

Werewolves and vampires are on the prowl, and our only guide is a talking dog. Welcome to the weird, wild, wacky world of Terry Pratchett.

Normal theatrical conventions don't apply, in the sense that the audience is not being asked to suspend its disbelief and accept the on stage antics as reality. Absurdities mean pre-conceptions must be left at the door.

There's plenty to enjoy here: who knew that civilization ultimately comes down to a hot bath, a passport is a piss-pot, or that sausages might contain... meat?

It might be weird and wonderful but the writer's constant need for exposition tends to detract from the action. Indeed the drama is limited until well into the second act, when menacing wolves make their appearance.

A clever little spoof of Chekhov's Three Sisters almost gets lost in the tide of nonsense flowing around it.

Full marks to John Goodman, the hapless but redoubtable Commander Vimes, who has an enormous role to tackle: he keeps his head when all around is descending into near-chaos.

Stephen Clarke's Igor (one of several) provides welcome light relief, with strong supporting performances from Alex McCubbin as Sgt. Detritus, Louise Sands as Lady Margolotta and Emma Wyverne as Baroness von Uberwald.

It's a tribute to the actors that they bring this sprawling, unwieldy play to life and make sense of it. The large cast is expertly marshalled by director Chris Moran, the costumes are superb (especially the troll) and I have never seen so many false beards on view - mainly worn by the girls, of course.

Definitely a unique experience!

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