The Witches are in town and it was an immense pleasure to watch them performing in their first show here in Hong Kong today. My daughter is a Roald Dahl super fan (as most kids are, thanks to the awesome books), and a lot of his books adorn her bookshelf. So, when i was invited by ABA Productions to go and review one of the shows adapted from his famous 1983 book "The Witches", i was super excited. But there is this little girl in the house who was way more excited to accompany me (believe me she has been keeping a track of 'days to go' for the show, until today morning- and today was the 'yayyy day'). She hadn't read the book so far, so i explained her the plot a little bit a couple of days back just to make it more fun for her to watch.
The Witches has been adapted by David Wood and features a multi talented cast of actors and musicians from the UK, brilliant original music and songs and some illusions that will take your breath away. Your kids are going to be on the edge of their seats for most of the show.
As we reached the Lyric Theatre in Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the excitement was brimming and you could see it on every child's face in the theatre. With eyes sparkling in anticipation of what those witches were upto, we sat there waiting for the show to begin. The show began with the entire cast coming on stage and performing a welcome bit, which made all of us (yes adults included) interested in them even more. You won't believe how many children were there in the theatre tonight and there was not a single sound when the show was on, it was so engrossing!! The set on stage was a mixture of very dramatic lights, warm home bits and some cold creepy corners. The show portrayed the witches characters so beautifully and it was scary and funny at the same time.
"A real witch could smell you across the street... to a witch you smell like fresh dog droppings!"- loved this one!!The show is timed at 1 hour 45 minutes with one interval in between. The performances of all the artists are spell bounding and they make you believe they are the real characters and not just acting their parts. The boy and the grandma looked so original that you could not take eyes off their (mother-son) chemistry. The grand wicked witch for me stole the show with her German/Italian accent (not sure which one it was...) but it really suited her character. Apart from the performances, i also want to specifically state that the show comes with brilliant music which is very energetic, coz the entire theatre was clapping and moving with the cast by the end of it.
The Witches runs from 27th -29th November' 2015 at the HKAPA, Hong Kong. And is suitable for kids above 5 years. Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, but all views mentioned above are solely mine.All in all, The Witches is a treat for the eyes and for the funny bones inside you. My favourite bit was- The Grand High Witch explaining the potion recipe to her disciples and you should've heard the 'ewwwww' my six year old said out loud... it was hilarious!! So, take my suggestion, make it a family evening out and go watch the show. We loved the show very much and ended the night with some mother-daughter dinner date pizza.
