I thought that it would be nice to do a blog pulling together content from around the web that was written about the recent production of Howl’s Moving Castle at Southwark Playhouse. If I’ve missed anything- do let me know! (Photos of Howl’s Moving Castle ©Jane Hobson)
“Howl’s Moving Castle – a triumph of theatrical imagination.” – Broadway World
“a truly transmedia theatre production, using a white stage with a pop-up cardboard castle in the centre as a giant projection screen. This massive backdrop, the size of a cinema screen, lets the creators paint with moving images, conjuring up villages, animated trees, meadows, mountains, fire sprites, magical explosions, and of course the interior of the Moving Castle itself.” – Mr Brown’s Urban Spree
“Complemented by Fyfe Dangerfield’s haunting score, the stripped-down plot walks us through Sophie’s transformation of the castle and its master and the climactic confrontation with the witch”- Catherine Love, Spoonfed
“The storytelling felt like an amalgamation of the traditional and the modern – the voiceovers lending a wink to the classic story tape and the flying projections offering filmic visuals.” – Collette McCarthy, TheatreFix Reviews
★★★”Southwark Playhouse’s heroically ambitious Christmas show isn’t fringe theatre as we know it. It’s part play, part animation, and has been adapted from a Diana Wynne Jones fantasy novel that most sane folks would deem unstageable and includes a dulcet voiceover from Stephen Fry as the narrator and a soundtrack from The Guillemots’ Fyfe Dangerfield.” -TimeOut London
★★★★”mesmerising and groundbreaking…Howl’s Moving Castle will be talked about as the first show from a very talented creative team which will go on to do much bigger things.” -The Public Reviews
” an intriguing alternative to the usual festive plays showing this December” – Shapa Begum, Dulwich Review
★★★”the cinematic digital projections are nothing short of breath-taking throughout.”- What’s on Stage
“Gobsmacked. This was the first piece of theatre in ages which left me open mouthed throughout.”- Terence Eden
“Very lively performances from everyone involved” - Jo Brodie
“The performers and projections interact seamlessly; a flickering lady caresses an actor’s head, fake fire emerges from real fingers and an old lady talks to a projection of her younger self.” – Miriam Gillinson
“Susan Sheridan’s quiet and thoughtful portrayal of age-cursed Sophie is the perfect counterpoint. Played as more than a young woman trapped in an older body, Sheridan nails the far subtler blurring of youth and age which makes Wynne Jones’ heroine so appealing.” – Exeunt
“an immaculately presented gothic tale” – FourthWall
“Daniel Ings is a dashing, erratic wizard Howl, darting around like a Tim Burton character” – William Stafford
Alice Leiper writes a lovely comparative piece of The Book, The Film and The Play which is well worth a read.
@Documentally talks to the cast: