Pet owners in Birmingham had better watch out because Cruella de Vil is coming to town this Christmas. Heading up a new stage version of Dodie Smith’s kids’ classic The Hundred and One Dalmatians, the fur-crazed fashionista is fixated on a snug new coat to see her through the winter.
But with Pongo, Missis and the entire Twilight Bark network on her case, checking off the 97 puppies on her list might not be quite as simple as she’d hoped. Either way, it looks like things are going to be getting a little hairy this December, as Tessa Walker’s lively production bounds into Birmingham REP.
“It’s quite an action-packed story – they go to so many places, particularly in the second half when you’ve got the chase,” says Walker. “But underneath the surface of this story of the dogs going missing and getting found, I think there’s a really strong message about community and working together.”
“My take on it is that I felt less loyal to the book and a bit more loyal to the cartoon, especially visually. We’ve set it around the 20s or 30s, partly because there’s something about the poise and elegance of that period that I really liked, and also because there’s no way it could happen in our digital age – the puppies going missing would be all over Twitter! But within that there’s room to make it seem quite contemporary – the idea of love and family and community triumphing over greed and consumerism is very much part of the fabric of it.”
Penned by Nativity’s Debbie Isitt in collaboration with her original cast, this adaptation of the novel made its first appearance at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre in 2000, so it’s interesting that it should follow on directly from the REP premiere of Nativity the Musical. Nevertheless, Walker says, she’s been keen to keep her distance from previous productions.
“I’ve deliberately not read anything about the Coventry or Northampton productions because I wanted to work from scratch and have my own take on it. Debbie has been amazing actually, because at the same time as being very arm’s length and allowing us to make big changes, she’s also bee incredibly generous and always available if I had any questions or anything I wanted to run by her. But being a director as well as a writer herself, she’s a real woman of theatre, and she absolutely understands the process and knows that once you get into the room, you have to change things to make them work.”
Accordingly, there have been several major alterations made, including the addition of a brand new score and songs. But perhaps the most striking difference is that this is the first production to see the animals portrayed by puppets, with a massive cast of dogs and cats in different shapes, sizes and designs, all operated by a cast of just 14.
“The first thing that most puppet designers ask when they’re approached is how many puppeteers have you got, and there’s usually a bit of sweating over the subject of how many legs and how many animals you might have,” says puppet designer and director Jimmy Grimes. “With this show, there’s a massive range in terms of how we’re using the puppets, and one of the most important things was to develop a visual language to ensure that even people who are new to puppetry will be able to get on board with it and feel comfortable watching it.”
“The first thing you’ll notice about the dogs is that they have no back legs, and the idea is that there’s a kind of blurring between the puppet and the puppeteer. It’s quite an unusual visual game we’re playing, so we wanted to open up people’s eyes to that as early in the show as possible, and there’s a brilliant sequence for doing that when everybody is out walking their dogs in Regent’s Park, which really showcases the variety of ways we can work with puppets.”
What he describes as the “one-trick” dogs featured in that walking sequence range from a Scottie dog on wheels to gliding, hairy Afghan hound and tiny Chihuahua, the only dog with a moving mouth, which sits in its owner’s arms and refuses to do anything like hard work. They’re a long way from the complex mechanisms of the main Dalmatians, which need to be able to convey a huge range of emotions as well as coping with big action sequences, but they’re still full of personality, and in Grimes’ own words, they’re great for signalling to the audience that they’re being invited to “join in a game” for the rest of the show.
Striking this balance between naturalism and conscious “game-playing” isn’t easy, and factors into just about everything the show’s performers have to do: this is a show that really tests their skills as actors and singers as well as puppeteers.
“I hadn’t done a lot of puppetry before, and nothing quite like this, so initially I had no idea how to approach it,” says Emma Thornett, who plays Missis. “There was a big question about how do you talk and sing like a dog without it sounding too put on or silly. But we’ve been working with a vocal coach, Barbara, who has been brilliant at teaching us how to think about the dog’s physique, especially their jowls, so we’ve been bringing everything forward into the mouth. It’s almost like we have a dog version of singing and a human version of singing – so we start out really doggy but then once we get into the big harmonies we’re moving more towards our normal voices.”
“There’s been a lot of emphasis on finding ways to merge the two worlds together without it seeming disjointed,” adds Oliver Wellington, who plays Pongo. “When we’re interacting with the humans, it’s completely barks and woofs, but over time we’ve started to bring that language into the dialogue we have with each other as dogs, feeding in little sounds and intonations.”
Another major challenge of working with so many puppets on this scale has been figuring out how to effectively direct the audience’s focus and attention.
“I’ve never done anything with this many puppets in it before and it’s absolutely mad!” laughs Grimes. “Ordinarily when you have a puppet on the stage, it immediately becomes a significant presence – we expect it to be pivotal in some way, even more than we would with an actor, and we’re waiting for something to happen. So when you’ve got 50 puppies or even just 15 on stage, dramatically it’s really difficult to keep finding that focus and making sure that everyone is doing something important.”
To help the puppets look more natural on stage, a complex set has been designed around them, making use of forced perspective, models and miniatures to create a sense of scale. Gorgeous, beautifully detailed watercolour backdrops recall the style of the Disney animation, while a two-metre walkway running right across the stage adds depth and layers to the landscape.
There’s also a live onstage band, tapping into the jazz age feel with sax, drums and keys. Such an integral part of the production is the music, that not only is the score entirely original and devised together with the cast, but three out of the four band members also double up as puppeteers.
“When we started looking at Debbie’s adaptation, we found there were a lot of monologues which we decided to turn into songs,” explains Gloria Onitiri, who plays Cruella. “I’m very musically based, so it’s been fun getting to work so closely with a composer on a play, making the songs fit what I do dramatically and what I’ve created with my character.”
It’s not the only way in which she’s been asked to think creatively about the character. Far from the cackling pantomime villain whose kind of eyes you might see watching you from underneath a rock, this is a fully rounded version of Cruella, complete with complex backstory and fleshed out reasons for being as she is.
Moreover, unlike in the Disney version, she’s also married. They say a dog is for life and not just for Christmas, and with his skinning, treating and stitching skills, Cruella’s husband, Horace, fully intends to make her puppy presents last a lifetime.
“Horace does appear in the original novel, so all the information about him is there. But I think the fact that he’s not in the films makes it easier in a way because I don’t have to fight against people’s preconceptions,” says actor Jo Servi. “He’s a really old school furrier, which is how he’s ended up with Cruella. He doesn’t just acquire coats – he wants to skin the animal himself and make everything from scratch, which is a highly skilled process and takes a long time to learn.”
Grim, perhaps, but not entirely beyond redemption: you might not care much for their violent delights, but in the end, they’re only human, and this is a couple who genuinely love and care about each other. So successful has Onitiri been at winning the rest of the cast’s sympathy for her character, that’s she’s pretty confident that audiences will find themselves feeling for poor Cruella too.
“We all have a certain perception of how Cruella de Vil should be and how she should look, but whenever you create a character, as an actor, you always want to know the truth of who the person is as a human,” she explains. “My job is to work out why she is the way she is, and to do that, I have to travel back into her childhood, and as soon as you do that, you start to love her. It’s been really fascinating, actually, because during the rehearsal process people have come up to me numerous times and said, ‘Oh my God, I feel so bad for her.’ So it’s not just Horace – the whole company is just in love with her!”
Well, if there was ever an appropriate time of year to forgive and try to understand such an iconic villain, it’s surely Christmas. Peace on earth and goodwill to all dogs, cats, men and women – even those who live for fur.
The Hundred and One Dalmatians is at Birmingham REP until Saturday 13 January.
Pet owners in Birmingham had better watch out because Cruella de Vil is coming to town this Christmas. Heading up a new stage version of Dodie Smith’s kids’ classic The Hundred and One Dalmatians, the fur-crazed fashionista is fixated on a snug new coat to see her through the winter.
But with Pongo, Missis and the entire Twilight Bark network on her case, checking off the 97 puppies on her list might not be quite as simple as she’d hoped. Either way, it looks like things are going to be getting a little hairy this December, as Tessa Walker’s lively production bounds into Birmingham REP.
“It’s quite an action-packed story – they go to so many places, particularly in the second half when you’ve got the chase,” says Walker. “But underneath the surface of this story of the dogs going missing and getting found, I think there’s a really strong message about community and working together.”
“My take on it is that I felt less loyal to the book and a bit more loyal to the cartoon, especially visually. We’ve set it around the 20s or 30s, partly because there’s something about the poise and elegance of that period that I really liked, and also because there’s no way it could happen in our digital age – the puppies going missing would be all over Twitter! But within that there’s room to make it seem quite contemporary – the idea of love and family and community triumphing over greed and consumerism is very much part of the fabric of it.”
Penned by Nativity’s Debbie Isitt in collaboration with her original cast, this adaptation of the novel made its first appearance at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre in 2000, so it’s interesting that it should follow on directly from the REP premiere of Nativity the Musical. Nevertheless, Walker says, she’s been keen to keep her distance from previous productions.
“I’ve deliberately not read anything about the Coventry or Northampton productions because I wanted to work from scratch and have my own take on it. Debbie has been amazing actually, because at the same time as being very arm’s length and allowing us to make big changes, she’s also bee incredibly generous and always available if I had any questions or anything I wanted to run by her. But being a director as well as a writer herself, she’s a real woman of theatre, and she absolutely understands the process and knows that once you get into the room, you have to change things to make them work.”
Accordingly, there have been several major alterations made, including the addition of a brand new score and songs. But perhaps the most striking difference is that this is the first production to see the animals portrayed by puppets, with a massive cast of dogs and cats in different shapes, sizes and designs, all operated by a cast of just 14.
“The first thing that most puppet designers ask when they’re approached is how many puppeteers have you got, and there’s usually a bit of sweating over the subject of how many legs and how many animals you might have,” says puppet designer and director Jimmy Grimes. “With this show, there’s a massive range in terms of how we’re using the puppets, and one of the most important things was to develop a visual language to ensure that even people who are new to puppetry will be able to get on board with it and feel comfortable watching it.”
“The first thing you’ll notice about the dogs is that they have no back legs, and the idea is that there’s a kind of blurring between the puppet and the puppeteer. It’s quite an unusual visual game we’re playing, so we wanted to open up people’s eyes to that as early in the show as possible, and there’s a brilliant sequence for doing that when everybody is out walking their dogs in Regent’s Park, which really showcases the variety of ways we can work with puppets.”
What he describes as the “one-trick” dogs featured in that walking sequence range from a Scottie dog on wheels to gliding, hairy Afghan hound and tiny Chihuahua, the only dog with a moving mouth, which sits in its owner’s arms and refuses to do anything like hard work. They’re a long way from the complex mechanisms of the main Dalmatians, which need to be able to convey a huge range of emotions as well as coping with big action sequences, but they’re still full of personality, and in Grimes’ own words, they’re great for signalling to the audience that they’re being invited to “join in a game” for the rest of the show.
Striking this balance between naturalism and conscious “game-playing” isn’t easy, and factors into just about everything the show’s performers have to do: this is a show that really tests their skills as actors and singers as well as puppeteers.
“I hadn’t done a lot of puppetry before, and nothing quite like this, so initially I had no idea how to approach it,” says Emma Thornett, who plays Missis. “There was a big question about how do you talk and sing like a dog without it sounding too put on or silly. But we’ve been working with a vocal coach, Barbara, who has been brilliant at teaching us how to think about the dog’s physique, especially their jowls, so we’ve been bringing everything forward into the mouth. It’s almost like we have a dog version of singing and a human version of singing – so we start out really doggy but then once we get into the big harmonies we’re moving more towards our normal voices.”
“There’s been a lot of emphasis on finding ways to merge the two worlds together without it seeming disjointed,” adds Oliver Wellington, who plays Pongo. “When we’re interacting with the humans, it’s completely barks and woofs, but over time we’ve started to bring that language into the dialogue we have with each other as dogs, feeding in little sounds and intonations.”
Another major challenge of working with so many puppets on this scale has been figuring out how to effectively direct the audience’s focus and attention.
“I’ve never done anything with this many puppets in it before and it’s absolutely mad!” laughs Grimes. “Ordinarily when you have a puppet on the stage, it immediately becomes a significant presence – we expect it to be pivotal in some way, even more than we would with an actor, and we’re waiting for something to happen. So when you’ve got 50 puppies or even just 15 on stage, dramatically it’s really difficult to keep finding that focus and making sure that everyone is doing something important.”
To help the puppets look more natural on stage, a complex set has been designed around them, making use of forced perspective, models and miniatures to create a sense of scale. Gorgeous, beautifully detailed watercolour backdrops recall the style of the Disney animation, while a two-metre walkway running right across the stage adds depth and layers to the landscape.
There’s also a live onstage band, tapping into the jazz age feel with sax, drums and keys. Such an integral part of the production is the music, that not only is the score entirely original and devised together with the cast, but three out of the four band members also double up as puppeteers.
“When we started looking at Debbie’s adaptation, we found there were a lot of monologues which we decided to turn into songs,” explains Gloria Onitiri, who plays Cruella. “I’m very musically based, so it’s been fun getting to work so closely with a composer on a play, making the songs fit what I do dramatically and what I’ve created with my character.”
It’s not the only way in which she’s been asked to think creatively about the character. Far from the cackling pantomime villain whose kind of eyes you might see watching you from underneath a rock, this is a fully rounded version of Cruella, complete with complex backstory and fleshed out reasons for being as she is.
Moreover, unlike in the Disney version, she’s also married. They say a dog is for life and not just for Christmas, and with his skinning, treating and stitching skills, Cruella’s husband, Horace, fully intends to make her puppy presents last a lifetime.
“Horace does appear in the original novel, so all the information about him is there. But I think the fact that he’s not in the films makes it easier in a way because I don’t have to fight against people’s preconceptions,” says actor Jo Servi. “He’s a really old school furrier, which is how he’s ended up with Cruella. He doesn’t just acquire coats – he wants to skin the animal himself and make everything from scratch, which is a highly skilled process and takes a long time to learn.”
Grim, perhaps, but not entirely beyond redemption: you might not care much for their violent delights, but in the end, they’re only human, and this is a couple who genuinely love and care about each other. So successful has Onitiri been at winning the rest of the cast’s sympathy for her character, that’s she’s pretty confident that audiences will find themselves feeling for poor Cruella too.
“We all have a certain perception of how Cruella de Vil should be and how she should look, but whenever you create a character, as an actor, you always want to know the truth of who the person is as a human,” she explains. “My job is to work out why she is the way she is, and to do that, I have to travel back into her childhood, and as soon as you do that, you start to love her. It’s been really fascinating, actually, because during the rehearsal process people have come up to me numerous times and said, ‘Oh my God, I feel so bad for her.’ So it’s not just Horace – the whole company is just in love with her!”
Well, if there was ever an appropriate time of year to forgive and try to understand such an iconic villain, it’s surely Christmas. Peace on earth and goodwill to all dogs, cats, men and women – even those who live for fur.
The Hundred and One Dalmatians is at Birmingham REP until Saturday 13 January.