The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – Southwark Playhouse

Dawn Hope, David Thaxton, Mary Moore, Marc Pickering, Yazdan Qafouri and Nicola Blackman in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice at Southwark Playhouse, London. Picture: Geraint Lewis

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice at Southwark Playhouse is streaming from Stream.Theatre until 14 March 2021.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

This is not a Harry Potter adaptation. After some time spent on Wikipedia rectifying my misremembering of those book titles, I discovered that this new show by Richard Hough (book/lyrics) and Ben Morales Frost (music) is instead inspired by the 1779 German poem The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – a work long out of copyright and presumably much less of a legal headache to adapt.

The original Goethe poem is quite short, and though some key imagery has survived, Hough and Frost have jam-packed this new family musical with original ideas. The action is set in a fantastical far-northern town, and centres on one Eva Gottel – played by Mary Moore.

Eva is the rebellious daughter of the local magician Johan Gottel (David Thaxton), who has become concerned that the town’s industrialist Fabian Lyddeker (Mark Pickering) is sapping the sky of its luminous natural resources. If you are looking for a fun way to get your children engaged with environmental issues, this show could be an excellent starting point for some important conversations.

There is not a nightmare-inducing amount of jeopardy in the piece, but Hough’s plot nevertheless proceeds at pace and rarely drags. I do not have any youngsters at my disposal to use as guinea pigs, but I imagine any with a passing interest in music or magical stories would be quite rapt. Meanwhile, Hough’s book drops in enough cheeky jokes about Oedipus and rectal thermometers to entertain the grown-ups as well.

Song-wise, Hough’s lyrics and Frost’s score prove themselves to be far more than just functional. Though the family-friendly intent precludes Sondheimian levels of emotional complexity in the ballads, there is genuine sadness in numbers such as ‘Invisible’ and ’You Hardly Know Me’.

Moore has a remarkable voice – powerful but with an unwavering emphasis on character over technical fireworks – which is a fantastic vehicle for Eva’s recognisable teen angst.

There are plenty of upbeat songs peppered throughout the score too, including ‘Nature Will Provide’ and ‘Mother Knows Best’. In these numbers, Pickering proves himself to be a show MVP with his genuinely hilarious portrayal of a morally deficient, slimy weasel of an antagonist. The show is never better than when Pickering is owning the stage with this pompous and snivelling masterclass in comedy villainy.

Magician Johan Gottel is the show’s moral centre and has perhaps the most wide-ranging emotional journey over the course of the piece. Thaxton does brilliant work as a caring but stern father, bringing charm and tragedy to the put-upon mage. He also shows off his excellent singing talent right from the start with the expository but stirring ‘Magic in the Air’.

The supporting cast is uniformly wonderful, and the ten-strong powerhouse certainly fills the small Southwark Playhouse stage with energy and dynamism. Yazdan Qafouri plays the scientist and Eva’s heartthrob love interest, Erik Sondersson. As a scientist myself, I whole-heartedly endorse this characterisation. Qafouri is occasionally meek – as one might be in the face of real-life magic – yet is consistently likeable. His performance opposite Moore in their duet ‘Spellbound’ is a charming love story in miniature.

Dawn Hope gives a fantastically committed performance in her role as the villainous Fabian Lyddeker’s possibly even more villainous mother. The mother and son scenes are some of the best in the show, both for their comedy and for the years of family tension these endlessly talented performers instil in their characters.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is unmistakably a show aimed at families, but after a solo viewing it nevertheless left me with a warm heart and a smile on my face. Musical theatre is much-missed right now, and this film brings a lot of that magic straight to your living room. There is even a flying broom at the end of Act I – as there is in most musicals if my fading memory serves me right.

Charlotte Westenra’s direction is outstanding, and the incorporation of special effects, illusions and puppets gives the show a distinctive and magical air. The Southwark Playhouse has done a brilliant job of capturing these actors’ fine performances and it is joyous to see a new British musical emerge into the world with such confidence and energy.

Ian Bowkett