Farlington School – FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
30 Apr 2014
Recent events in Eastern Europe added extra poignancy to Farlington School’s senior production of this much-loved musical which ran from Tuesday 1st to Thursday 3rd April. The talented cast put across the show’s unique mix of humour, passion and pathos in a performance which held the audience spellbound.
The narrative is dominated by Tevya, milkman, philosopher – and father of pretty daughters – and we were treated to a larger than life portrayal which reminded us of why “Fiddler” broke Broadway records and made “If I were a rich man” a hit. “Matchmaker” too has become a classic and was beautifully rendered by the vivacious but wayward daughters, each destined to make an increasingly untraditional marriage. Humour was conveyed by the matchmaker herself, the gossiping villagers, a bossy wife and a stammering lovelorn tailor; tension by the politics coming in from the wider world, tearing the loyalties of the Constable; and fantasy by the enactment of Tevya’s strange dream.
Clever direction by Mark Slawinski kept the action and changes of mood, not least in the riotous tavern scene, both convincing and pacey whilst Jane Thomas’s music direction ensured that the singing was superb both in full-blooded songs like “Tradition” and in the final heart-rending “Anatevka”. This was a memorable production which entertained but also gripped with its powerful portrayal of the frustrations, fears and hopes of a threatened community.
David Thomas