The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum
Thursday 18 - Saturday 20 October 2007
Knebworth Village Hall at 7.30pm with matinee at 2.30pm on Saturday

Following the success of their production of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory in February 2007, Knebworth Players rose again to the challenge of staging a big show with their production of The Wizard Of Oz by Frank L Baum.

The lead role of Dorothy was taken by Aimee Pickett, who gave us a lovely performance as the young girl cast into the strange Land of Oz when a tornedo hits her home.  And so begins her journey through the Land of  Oz.

Along the journey she meets her three travelling companions.  First she encounters the Scarecrow (Alison Levesley) who has no brain, then the TinMan (Wayne Jarvis) who doesn’t have a heart and finally the cowardly lion (Rob Ward).  Alison, Wayne and Rob all gave very convincing performances, particularly as they were all having to cope with wearing the most cumbersome costumes they’ve every had to cope with on stage!

As they progress on their journey to the Emerald City they have to deal with the Wicked Witch of the West (a particularly nasty Barbara Holgate-Stuckey) and her sneaky cat (a lovely debut performance by Ellie Hankin) but they’re helped by the Good Witch of the South (Sue George) and the King and Queen of the Fieldmice (two very confident performances by youngsters Alexander and Francesca Mills).

And, finally, the four travelers reach the Emerald City where they meet the Wizard of Oz (Peter Scott) and discover that he’s not quite as all powerful as everyone believes!  There’s a happy ending (of course!) when the Wizard shows Dorothy the way to get back home to her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry.

The complex and varied number of sets was achieved through the creative use of a very simple set design and some stunning lighting and sound effects.  Well done to Graham Dormer and John Whitbread for making this production look so visually impactful!

Barbara Holgate-Stuckey