Will we ever tire of Dorothy and her motley crew’s journey along the Yellow Brick Road to Oz? I doubt it as it’s a story that’s perfect for reinvention and investment with new meanings and messages, and Kate Prince has done just that with Groove on Down the Road.
Prince is artistic director of the fabulous ZooNation whose Into the Hoods and Some Like It Hip Hop delighted audiences young and old, and she now brings the youngsters in the group to the fore with all the dancers in this piece being aged 9 to 19.
On our way in to the Queen Elizabeth Hall we follow the yellow brick road of empty schoolbooks strewn across our path. School, education, and creativity are the motifs for Groove, and Dorothy (Portia Oti) and friends first appear in a classroom, bored and listless, forced to do maths when they want to draw, to paint, and most of all, to dance.
Soon – although why is never quite explained – they’re in Oz and the adventure begins. And what an adventure it is with spectacular dancing, fantastic music (from Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake, various Jacksons, plus the soundtrack to The Wiz, all mashed together by DJ Walde), and a dialogue-free story that’s easily accessible to even the very young.
Most of the familiar aspects are there, although it took me ages to work out that one of the boys was supposed to be Toto (Michael McNeish)! There’s Tyrese Man (Michael Ureta), the school bully, transformed by a quick squirt of oil from a can marked ‘compassion’ from Dorothy into the Tin Man; Simon Crow (Jaih Betote Dipito Akwa) becomes a bendy, wobbly Scarecrow who can backflip like he has no blood and bones in him at all; and Lionel (a gorgeous Corey Culverwell), when he’s pulled out of the bin he’s been shoved in, becomes the Cowardly Lion, all sinuous moves and silent growls.
Off they trot with Dot, up and down the steps in the auditorium (a perfect way to hide scene changes on stage), meeting various creatures on their way. I say trot, but they bodypop, hop (and hip), flip, spin, stand on one hand, twist, vogue – just about every dance move you can think of, they do it. Oh and don’t be put off by the ‘hip hop’ label: the dancing and music is a lot more varied than those two words at first convey. There were toddlers and grandparents alike in the QEH, all enjoying the show.
Ben Stone‘s set is simple and effective with walls as the theme (did he have Pink Floyd‘s anti-educational The Wall album in mind, I wonder?) Above is a screen, taking up about a third of the stage, flashing images complimenting the action, or sometimes bringing it on a little.
But it’s the dancing that’s the star in every ZooNation piece, and here the troupe of young dancers’ skills are so amazing that you have to remind yourselves that some are as young as 9 or 10.
Oti‘s Dorothy, in her pair of sparkly ruby red hi-tops, is all long-limbed elegance, and this is a girl who knows how to strike an iconic pose or two. She’s on stage for all 75 minutes of the show and is dancing for most of it, yet she never flags. And it’s the energy of the whole cast that’s ridiculously infectious and will have even the most reluctant of toes tapping (yes, even mine).
On their journey, the gang encounter some scary stuff: the Poppy Heads, beautiful clones who lure them into sleep with their somnolent blooms, a murder of heckling crows and, of course, the Wicked Witch of the West or W.W.W. to her (probably non-existent) friends (played by Annie Edwards, a little person with a big personality). The ‘don’t do drugs’ message is easy to spot, but I’m not so sure what the crows were meant to represent. And does the witch warn of the dangers of the internet I wonder? She’s pretty darned frightening, with her sweetness and light smile to the audience snapping to a look of murderous thunder whenever she glances at her troupe of flying monkeys, and the simple trick used to bring about her demise is perfectly realised.
The ending brings closure along with a message that Michael Gove could do with heeding (although the fish-faced idiot wouldn’t get it in a million years) – that kids need creativity in their lives and that without it everything seems dully monochrome. And nothing proves that more than this fabulously engaging, fresh, and joyous show from a creative, lively, hard-working and dedicated ‘bunch of kids’. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Gove.
WHAT: Groove on Down the Road
WHERE: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London
WHEN: Until September 1, various times
TICKETS: £10 – £32
MORE INFO: CLICK HERE:
RUNNING TIME: 75 minutes
WOULD I SEE IT AGAIN: Yes, I’m taking my mum and my son. I could sit and watch it over and over