Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Helen Woolf, Aaron Sidwell, Kim Ismay, Steven Pinder, Emily Shaw, Iddon Jones, Charli Baptie, Emily Olive Boyd, Georgia Rae Briggs, Jason Broderick, Samantha Brown, Hannah Cadec, Grace Chapman, James Davies –Williams, Howard Ellis, Amy Goodwin, Daniel James Greenway, Jack Harrison–Cooper, Charlie Karlsen, Nicole Lupino, Stuart MacIver, Stacey McGuire, Sara Morely, Paul Saunders, James Titchener, Helen Walsh, Amy Webb, Luke Woollaston, Benjamin Yates, Amy Ross, Nikki Bentley.
The Wicked Witch of the West may have had a rough ride, one of the most iconic roles in the golden days of cinema, one that manages still to get into your dreams and scare the young soul inside anyone, was wronged, given the bad press that comes when the state needs an enemy to believe in, for the greater good to have as adversary; it is the enemy we all seek to blame when the rose tinted glasses fall from the face and the image we see is one of disgust, a reflection of what we truly see in ourselves, one of being Wicked.
The art of the prequel is one that has become fashionable, to take the characters that are perhaps much loved and emulated in pop culture, and to look at their back story, to make them rounded, fleshed out and more realistic; it is a fashion that is laudable, creatively enjoyable and one in which L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz was always crying out for.
The many sequels and continuing stories of the land of Oz, through even to the noted author’s own great grandson priceless offering’s of the life of Dorothy Gale, are given fresh thought when confronted by the tale of how the two want to be witches, the green skinned Elphaba and the superficial Garlinda, first met, how they became friends, and how in the land of emerald glasses, smoke and mirrors and fantasy, one became heroic and took a stand and the other a mouth piece for the state.
It is in turning the idea around that makes Wicked a great show, full of fantastic beasts and the foreknowledge of what is to come, one in which makes for a stunning spectacle and one in which the cast shine but one in which the designers and the costume makers really make their mark on the proceedings.
Sometimes a show carries too much expectation, it suffers from the weight of hopeful love that is bestowed upon it and it wilts under the pressure, Wicked suffers from no illusions, no sleight of hand; it is simply a magical affair and one that with fortune might see the light of day as a cinematic experience, one that would do this fine stage production justice.
Ian D. Hall