BWW Reviews: DUNCTON WOOD, Union Theatre, May 29 2015

Everyone has a story like it - you're with friends and you've had a beer or two and someone says, "I know - we could make a musical out of this." Next morning, 999 times out of 1000, everyone realises that it was the beer was talking and the enthusiasm fizzles out. But that one time in a thousand, it happens - and I bow to no man nor woman in my admiration of those who actually do it and live the dream!

But that doesn't mean that it always works and I'm afraid that Duncton Wood (continuing at the Union Theatre until 20 June) might have been better left with the beery glasses and fullish ashtrays.Based on Michael Horwood's series of books about moles living in rural England, there's warfare, quasi-religion, love, murder, and, no doubt, allegories aplenty for the follies of us human beings above ground. There's a bit of Middle Earth there and a bit of Watership Down too, but it's very hard to follow, especially with some actors playing multiple roles. I worked out that the moles with a touch of Edward Scissorhands in their DNA were the baddies, but I wasn't sure what was going on with the other two tribes, nor quite the awesome significance of The Stone, a symbol of religious power of some kind, to some moles anyway.

With a mainly young cast, performances will be uneven, and some of the singing is very ropey, but Amelia-Rose Morgan sings beautifully as Rebecca and when the cast sing as a chorus, the sound thrills in so small a theatre. They, alas, are the high points of a production hamstrung by a muddled book, lacklustre songs and an overly ambitious roster of characters. It's a shame that the committed cast have so little to work with, cliches trumping wit in the script.

Sometimes, things are best left in the woods.

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