Watch Chameleons brave the great outdoors (From Essex County Standard)

Watch Chameleons brave the great outdoors

3:51pm Friday 2nd July 2010 in Arts Reviews

What better way to spend a summer’s evening than by one of the country’s most historic buildings with some of literature’s most beloved characters?

Thanks to Colchester-based Chameleon’s Web,that’s exactly what my family and I did.

The theatre company, which had built up a solid reputation with plays at the Headgate Theatre, can now add to that impressive CV a fun outdoor touring show.

It helps that their starting point is a lively and funny stage adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows, written by Alan Bennett with plenty of anarchic and witty humour.

But by bringing it to such colourful life with a clever array of props, costumes and settings, the cast and crew can be rightly proud of their achievements.

Fans of the book will no doubt have their own ideas of how Toad, Ratty, Mole and Badger should be played, but I thought all four leads were more than up to the task. I also liked Scott Sophos’ belligerent Albert the horse, who had the pick of the many laughs on offer.

I also loved the way the show was made accessible to a younger audience with the use of clever props and staging to create a number of vehicles and getting the cast to interact with the audience running in between the picnic rugs and fold-up chairs.

NEIL D’ARCY-JONES