This was an unexpected and surprise trip booked by a friend of mine. I didn’t know what to expect, as all I knew about the production was that it was about Charles Darwin and used puppets. Ever since War Horse, the use of puppetry in shows has been amazing, so I couldn’t wait to see what this had to offer.
The opening scene between Charles Darwin (Bradley Foster) and Emma Wedgwood (Melissa Vaughan) worried me a little bit because it felt pretty stiff and unnatural, and I feared that this was setting the tone for the rest of the show. I needn’t have worried though, because as soon as Darwin’s story began, the show became pure magic.
The simple turntable stage with its rocky outcrop and backdrop projections whisked you from Cambridge to manor houses to the sea voyage and to far away lands very effectively, and the acting was great. You felt as though you were immersed in one of the golden Sunday night dramatisations (Pride and Prejudice, Downton Abbey etc.).
The puppets don’t appear until a fair way through the first act, but they are amazing and captured each animal beautifully. All the scenes where the animals were first met were set to music without any words. This was incredibly effective as it allowed each animals’ character to be portrayed. The use of puppets was so clever and life-like that you were transported and felt like you were in the jungle, under the sea etc. looking at real animals. I think that the Galápagos Tortoises might have been the stars of the show!
The was a risk with this production that the science would overshadow everything else, but again there was nothing to worry about. Although Creationism vs Darwinism is the story, is was done fairly subtly and focussed more on the voyage of discovery. I would, in fact, have liked a little more of the science and the arguments between the two theories, but that’s just personal preference - the production didn’t need it and it is more accessible without any great analysis of them.
This is a brilliant production, and it just left me smiling at the magic and marvel of the world. I might even venture back…