10 minute read
Bednobs and Broomsticks
Time to Start Believing
Aren't we due a bit of magic in our lives? Dianne Pilkington thinks so. She is staring in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and she, for one, is thrilled to be dreaming of the impossible again.
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"It's my first theatre job back," says the Wigan-born actor who plays Miss Eglantine Price, the trainee witch. "It is fun, it is full of magic and it takes you on a different journey from the adventure we've been on for the last year and a half. It is what the world needs right now."
The show, which opens at Milton Keynes Theatre on Wednesday 15th September, is the first ever stage adaptation of the 1971 Disney favourite. Pilkington says the production is every bit as ground-breaking as the movie, with its famous blend of live action, animation and musical numbers.
"The film was doing something new and innovative, and so are we," says the West End star, whose roles include Glinda in Wicked, Donna in Mamma Mia! and Elizabeth in Young Frankenstein. "It is faithful to what people love about Bedknobs and Broomsticks but this creative team never make the obvious choice. They have an amazing creative brain."
Set in the darkest days of the second world war, Bedknobs and Broomsticks is about the three Rawlins children who have been evacuated from London. Finding themselves in the fictional Dorset town of Pepperinge Eye, they are put in the care of the eccentric Miss Price who is less interested in looking after them than in completing her studies in magic.
Before they know it, she is casting spells on their bed and sending them skywards on a magical adventure.
"She's very quirky," laughs Pilkington. "She's a woman who has lived on her own for a long time and has not had much love for a really long time. We've been exploring the scary side but there has to be a joy in her too. There's a real relish in being an apprentice witch."
Long before she got the part, Pilkington was an admirer of Angela Lansbury who immortalised the role of Eglantine Price on film. She'd even got the merchandise. "One of the first masks I bought at the beginning of the pandemic was Angela Lansbury in Murder She Wrote," she says. "The rest of the cast think it's hilarious but I didn't buy it for this – it's just mine!"
She is, though, determined to make the part her own: "I'm a huge fan of hers but I'm not like her at all. Also we're in a different time. I've tried to come it at it from a modern point of view, even though it's still set in wartime."
When she wants to check she's on the right lines, Pilkington has the perfect audience on hand. Her sounding board is her eight-year-old son. "I've been practising on Hugo," she says. "I've shown him my magic tricks and he doesn't know how they're done, which is gratifying."
She adds: "He's convinced the broom is on rocket boosters and he could be right – who will ever know?"
As well as the original score, the show features Sherman brothers songs that were dropped from the film, plus new material by Neil Bartram who has worked closely with Brian Hill on the stage adaptation. With the additional songs, it has become a full-blown musical. "Substitutiary Locomotion is one of the best numbers I've ever sung," says Pilkington. "I get so excited, I actually do believe I'm magic and casting a spell. When you're in the middle of that on stage it’s fabulous."
Bringing her up to speed on the art of magic is co-director Jamie Harrison. He is the man who created the stage illusions in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and once had to perform a magic trick for JK Rowling herself.
He has also worked on Charlie on the Chocolate Factory in the West End and Pinocchio at the National Theatre, as well as all the shows for Vox Motus, the Glasgow company he runs with the other co-director, Candice Edmunds.
"At the core of Harry Potter is the human being," says Harrison. "What I learnt was that magic really works if it's part of the personality of the character who is performing it. That's something we're working with in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. We wanted it to feel charming with a sense of childhood imagination, but at the same time be allowed to take flight."
Candice Edmunds says the fantasy emerges from the stress of the poor children who were evacuated during the war. "Using fantasy to bring respite from trauma is really timely," she says. "It feels more than ever we want something to lift us out of our situation. The children are in the depths of a traumatic upheaval and fantasy helps to offer relief from all the dark forces closing in around them. It's very cleverly written to show the way a small child would imagine solutions to problems."
Edmunds, who grew up in Australia and South Africa before moving to Glasgow, can't believe she has the chance to direct a show that played a formative role in her childhood. "When I was about eight, we spent some time in a small town called Maun in Botswana where my aunt lives," she says. "There wasn't much to do there except raid her VHS collection. Pretty much the only kids' film she had was Bedknobs and Broomsticks. My sister and I watched it over and over again. It has a really special place in my heart."
In making the switch to the stage, Bedknobs and Broomsticks has become what Harrison calls "an emotionally powerful journey about belonging, commitment and family". It is a shift in emphasis that made Pilkington more determined than ever to get the part. "When I first read the script, I bawled my eyes out for the last ten minutes to the point when my husband was quite worried," she says. "What they’ve done with the story is incredibly moving."
The Addams Family is appearing at Milton Keynes Theatre from Wednesday 15th to Sunday 19th September 2021, tickets are available from www.atgtickets.com
STARS
Manish Kumar Arora (K.P. Astrologer, Numerologist, Tarot Card Reader & Vastu Consultant) reveals what’s in store for you this month
Virgo (23 August – 22 September) The theme for achieving success in this month revolves around honing your ability to work fairly, maintain group cohesiveness or team spirit, and to compromise, adjust or negotiate diplomatically with others. Cultivating good social skills and utilising charm and grace in your interactions with others can take you places. Favourable events and tendencies will dominate in your family life and relationships with close people during this month. Favourable Dates: September 3, 4, 12, 13, 21, 22 Favourable Colours: Yellow & Green
Libra (23 September – 22 October)
An energetic month is in store for you. You want to have fun, and you might find you’re pouring a lot of energy into your hobbies, children, and recreation. Romance moves forward, and you’re ready to take the initiative when it comes to matters of the heart. You are keen on sharing your personal philosophies with others and are especially intrigued with other points of view.
Favourable Dates: September 1, 4, 10, 13, 19, 22 Favourable Colours: White & Green
Scorpio (23 October – 21 November)
It’s time to be prudent and to review your budget rather than spend. Follow the dictates of your heart this month. In general, collective interest in learning more about balance in relationships, legal rights, social skills, psychology, and soft skills can be observed. Conditions in your close partnerships may begin to feel confining now and demand a major overhaul. Travel related to education and change of place is also foreseen for some.
Favourable Dates: September 1, 9, 10, 18, 19, 27 Favourable Colours: Blue & Yellow.
Sagittarius (22 November -21 December)
It’s an excellent period for productivity on all levels, even if the lure of chit chat with friends is strong..You are feeling remotivated after some lack of enthusiasm in recent past. Those in business will have an upper hand in their partnerships, with courageous planning and bold steps taken towards growth. In personal and intimate relationships, you will be very warm and generous, however you may have to watch out for sudden impulses of anger.
Favourable Dates: September 1, 9, 10, 18, 19, 27 Favourable Colours: Blue & Yellow
Capricorn (22 December – 19 January)
It’s a time when exciting professional and travel opportunities could arise, seemingly out of the blue. Love and appreciation are easy to attract this month. Your desire to learn, share ideas, and improve your skills is powerful. You will share your skill, expertise and time for charitable and philanthropic causes. Strong energy for new beginnings in close relationships is with you in the last week of the month.
Favourable Dates: September 5, 6, 14, 15, 23, 24 Favourable Colours: Red & Blue
Aquarius (20 January – 18 February)
This is a happy month with glad tidings, expansions and promotions, and all-round growth. The time is good for investment purposes with chances of excellent returns. Your mood in love is mostly adventurous, and your charm is quite natural now. A more positive and forward-looking attitude wins you many admirers now. Your home will resound with continuous activity, chatter and laughter of guests that include friends, extended family and business associates.
Favourable Dates: September 1, 6, 10, 15, 19, 24 Favourable Colours: Red & Purple
Pisces (19 February – 20 March)
You will be busy harmonising and balancing your personal lives, relationships and partners. Some of you might enter into new relationships, both marital and romantic ones. Encouraging results are predicted for new business partnerships and nascent enterprises. You will find immense fulfilment in marital relationships and couples involved in romance will be planning to take their relationship to the next level. Home life would be animated, busy, and involving.
Favourable Dates: September 4, 8, 13, 17, 22, 26 Favourable Colours: Yellow & Blue
Aries (21 March – 19 April)
This month propels you along a new path. Adventure, travel, and higher learning call to you. You are setting your sights on the future instead of worrying about the past and aiming high. Your spirit for adventure runs high, yet you are especially busy with work obligations. You might have a cultural or religious revival in your lives and may also be engrossed in the activities connected to religion and spirituality.
Favourable Dates: September 1, 4, 10, 13, 19, 22 Favourable Colours: White & Green
Taurus (20 April – 20 May)
This month will turn out to be a clearly positive time, which will be literally full to the brim with meaningful events, positives, and also having conflicting situations. Those who seek to maintain peace and harmony will be richly rewarded in personal and professional relationships. Marital and conjugal life would be satisfactory. Better bonding is expected with near and dear ones.
Favourable Dates: September 1, 9, 10, 18, 19, 27 Favourable Colours: Blue & Green
Gemini (21 May – 20 June)
Planetary environment promises to bring quite unusual events. Mostly those will be pleasant surprises that will happen exactly to you. During this period, you might disclose new abilities or you’ll get tremendously lucky in business sphere. You will give your superlative performance and receive admiration and appreciation from your team members. Friendships are especially rewarding this month, and new feel-good connections can be made.
Favourable Dates: September 2, 6, 11, 14, 20, 23 Favourable Colours: Blue & Yellow
Cancer (21 June – 22 July)
This is a highly favourable time for self-employed professionals and family businesses. The innovative approach and go-getter attitude fetches excellent returns as profits pour in continuously. Using persuasive skills, imagination and accurate assessment about existing trends, you can conduct excellent business administration. This month is also favourable for students, people in research and development and personnel involved with training and capacity building.
Favourable Dates: September 5, 7, 14, 16, 23, 25 Favourable Colours: Green & Yellow
Leo (23 July – 22 August)
This would be a month of hyperactivity, both on a mental and physical level as you attend to hectic work schedules, business meetings and conferences, social gatherings and entertainment programmes and simultaneously spinning the thinking wheels and carrying on the internal brainstorming non-stop. For those in romance, time is favourable. Those in family life, might either have health issues connected to their spouses, or ego issues resulting due to brusque behaviour.
