Malory Towers – The Passenger Shed, Bristol and Touring

Francesca Mills and Izuka Hoyle in Malory Towers at The Passenger Shed, Bristol and Touring. Picture: Steve Tanner

Malory Towers runs at The Passenger Shed, Bristol until 18 August 2019 before continuing its tour.

Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩

Much has been said about the surprise choice of a stage adaptation of Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers as Emma Rice’s follow up to her Wise Children debut, Wise Children.

No, it doesn’t have the darkness of Angela Carter or the immediate theatricality of Rice’s body of work, but opening the silly season with an old school family favourite is an inspired choice. It’s a stunning vehicle for female performers, it introduces Blyton to a whole new audience in an exciting way and its wholesome message is something this country so desperately needs.

Issues creep in however early in the piece. A modern-day prologue paves the way for the inevitable Bobby Ewing in the shower epilogue that you see coming a mile away. It also feels slightly redundant and heavy handed considering we’re all here to see a stage adaptation of Malory Towers. We certainly don’t need to be told we’re about to see it.

While the cast of seven are exceptional actors, stylistically the performances are patchy in places. At times, it’s not clear if the company is satirising the material or playing it straight.

As Sally Hope, Francesca Mills is top of the class. Her Sally is an absolute powerhouse and Mills commands every second she is on that stage. She is authentic, dynamic and has absolute control over her material. So too does Vinnie Heaven as Bill Robinson. Their cool swagger and Dunkirk Spirit is reminiscent of swashbuckling heroes from Blyton’s era.

The choice of songs complements the action well and are lifted by the musical direction of composer Ian Ross and the triple threat talents of the cast. Making Malory Towers a show with songs is by far the best choice Rice makes in adapting the work. It breaks the action up, moves it along swiftly and sticks a couple of cracking tunes in your head for the journey home.

Rice’s Malory Towers is a mixed bag. It’s aimed at audiences of eight years and above, however it is the lower end of that age scale that will get the most out of it. Bar a pointed Shakespeare reference and a king hit to the patriarchy, there is little for the adults to sink their teeth into aside from a healthy dose of nostalgia. The rest is as joyful as a pick and mix: sweet, fun but ultimately unsatisfying.

Shane Morgan