Review: Fantastic Mr Fox from the mouths of babes
Adapted for the stage by shake & stir theatre co, directed by Ross Balbuziente
Review by Jemima and Theodore Clarke, with help from Charlotte Smee
How would you sum up the story of Fantastic Mr Fox in two sentences?
Jemima: It was about Mr. Fox and his family trying to escape the three bad farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean who want to kill Mr. Fox because he keeps stealing their chickens and stuff. Boom.
Theo: What she said.
What did you think about the play?
Theo: I thought about Fantastic Mr. Fox that it was funny, weird, kind of a bit annoying, and it was quite loud. But it was still great. My favorite character was Boggis, Bunce and Bean because they're funny.
Jemima: I thought it was really funny, and I really like the lights and the music and I like how they did the digging.
Can you tell us what the digging was like on the stage?
Jemima: On the stage, they're like tiers of a stage and they ran up like, zigzagging up. Yeah, and that was cool. And I liked the rat because he had an accent.
What about the costumes? Did you like anything about the costumes?
Theo: Yeah, they were cool, they had cool face paints.
What did they look like?
Theo: Okay, the fox ones were literally just fox faces on their face. Same with the badger. Same with the bunny.
And the rat?
Theo: Yeah.
Jemima: But the rat and the bunny were the same person. So they had similar face paints, which was cool.
What did you like about the lights?
Theo: Lasers.
Which scene did they have the lasers in?
Theo: The scene where Mr. Fox, Chase and the rat were in Bean’s apple cider farm and the lady came down and found them and there were lasers when they were dancing.
Jemima, what did you like about the lights? I really liked the projections.
Theo: Yeah, that was cool.
Jemima: Yeah, me too, on the wooden ramp that showed the animals and the digging.
Was there anything that you didn't like about it?
Jemima: I don't know. It was just different to what I expected because I thought it would be like the book or the movie. Yeah, it was like a whole new play. But that was cool too. It was cool because it was different.
Theo: What I didn't like is that it wasn't the same as the story in the movie and Chase’s real name in the movie is actually Ash. And they didn’t have Kristofferson. He is cool.
Is there anything else you would like to say?
Jemima: We discussed the ethical implications of food in society today. It relates to food and obesity, shrinkage and growth…
Theo: …yeah, drinking too much apple cider and getting drunk.
What would you say to someone who had never been to play before and asked you if they should go and see Fantastic Mr Fox?
Jemima: Yes. You should because it's really very funny and you will be very entertained. And they had popcorn there too. And it was very nice to sit back and relax and enjoy the show.
Theo: I would say I think you would like it. It's really funny. And can I come with you? Because I want to see it again!
How would you describe Fantastic Mr Fox in three words?
Jemima: Silly, funny and exciting.
Theo: Funny, weird and exciting.
Fantastic Mr Fox plays at the Roslyn Packer Theatre until 30 April 2023. Find tickets here.
Images by Prudence Upton
Jemima is a 13-year-old who watches a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender, reads a lot of DC comics and watches a lot of DC movies. She is also a junior lifeguard.
Theo is a 9-year-old kid who loves video games, music and also cars. And jam. And peanut butter.
Charlotte is Jemima and Theo’s weird older sister who takes them to the theatre sometimes and records them answering questions about it in the car on the way home.
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