Moana Jr

Moana Jr is an adaptation from the 2016 Disney animated movie, with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, of Hamilton fame, Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina. The music and orchestrations in this junior stage version have been cleverly arranged by Ian Weinberger.

It is the story of Moana, the daughter of the village Chief, who is desperate to explore the world beyond the island and safe lagoon of her home, Motonui. When food begins to die off and fish are in sparse quantities, the villagers’ existence is threatened, driving Moana to help her people. She is inspired to action by her Gramma Tala’s stories of their ancestors travelling across the seas, and she sets sail to save her people. Against her parents’ wishes, she leaves on an epic journey to find the legendary demi-god Maui, and together they return the heart of the goddess Te Fiti to save all and become heroes.

This production by Adelaide Theatre Academy is delightful, showcasing some budding Adelaide talent and clever direction by Matt Houston. The audience at the morning performance which I attended were enraptured by the story and my twelve-year-old companion was glued to every moment - a sign of a great show.

Whilst sets and lighting were minimalistic, they were effective in setting location. Mood- coloured cycloramas and simple prop waves, palm trees and the like were used well. Some scene changes may have benefited from a slight dimming of lights to avoid losing mood, but this certainly didn’t detract from the overall joy which the show invoked.

The vibrant, enthusiastic cast had no weak links, with every child on stage being very obviously fully committed to their role.

Holly Letcher, as Moana, was very sweet and understated, with a lovely clarity to her voice. Emily Bennett was excellent as Maui, displaying just the right balance of cockiness and humour. The three ancestors (Stephanie Andrejewskis, Ryan Tillman and Tiffany Buchan) as the guides of the show, were very good, with beautiful voices and strength of character. Gramma Tala (Amelia Boys) had a gentle but sweet voice and did well to imbue the wisdom of the character. A stand-out in terms of characterisation and vocals was Matrim Grover as Tamatoa the crab - delightful and fun to watch. Special mention needs also to go to Samantha Keough for her beautiful ballet moves as Te Ka.

Whilst all of the leads in the show did a wonderful job, huge praise must go to the ensemble. Each time they appeared on stage we were swept into joyful Polynesian rhythms. Ben Francis, as musical director, had shaped these songs beautifully with lovely harmonies and clear singing and the choreography of Georgia Brass and Jemma Allen was outstanding and incorporated slick Polynesian iconography and movement.

Matt Houston is to be praised also for the clever transitions of scenes, the use of cloth and physical theatre to create waves and motion and the excellent blocking for a large number of children.

Costuming by Emily Jaensch was simple but effective; however, I would say that as a novice to the story of Moana Jr, I felt the use of coloured t-shirts on most of the lead characters, aside from Moana, did create confusion about roles. I would probably like to have seen the Polynesian theme in Moana’s costume carried across her family members and friends. That said, it was a clever move to use colour themes to delineate sea and land.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this production and in these times of limited theatre it is wonderful to see our youth injecting life back to the boards.

Well done all at Adelaide Theatre Academy on bringing such joy and hope in our future performers.

Shelley Hampton