The Fifth Elephant

In the strange world of Discworld, a huge flat disc rests on the backs of four enormous elephants standing on the back of a giant turtle swimming through space; Uberwald is a mountainous kingdom of warring factions of dwarfs, vampires and werewolves. Legend has is that the fifth elephant fell from the turtle shell onto the Disc to form the mountains they now call home. The mountains have valuables that they all want and so the differences become more exaggerated. This interchange / conflict of such diverse characters kept the audience’s attention throughout the long run of the play.  The writer certainly had an active imagination and this adaption was good for the most part but condensing such a book to a two and half hour play is always a challenge.

Sarah Drew has managed a quite large cast well – and that was with quite young students playing some of the dwarfs. Importantly, the flow was very good but clarity of some delivery needs to be improved. The opening with Arabella Hillmann as Gaspode the talking dog introducing us to what was to follow set a good tone and she kept the story going.  Aodhan Thomas as Cdr Sam Vines carried the play as the central character and improved as the play entered Act 2. More variety would have enhanced the over-all effect.  It was great to see the performance of Mieke Dunn as the first female sergeant, who was also a werewolf. 

The costumes blended with the story line, while the beards and wigs were excellent.  How some of the actors playing dwarfs managed to move on their knees for so long absolutely amazed me.  The many followers of the Pratchett stories had a great night out and were there in force. The Arts Theatre has created a unique bond with many followers as they do a Pratchett adaption every year.  I look forward what is coming next year, while you still have the chance to enjoy this good production.

William Davies