The Witches of Eastwick

Published Thursday 28 August 2008 at 13:30 by Mark Shenton

There was always a vibrant, sexy and witty musical waiting to burst out of The Witches of Eastwick. But when this smart, clever theatrical adaptation of the John Updike novel and 1987 Warner film was originally premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 2000, its alternately affectionate and stinging satire on small-town values was fatally over-inflated and drowned out by big-time production values.

It was subsequently scaled back a bit and moved to the Prince of Wales, but by then the die was cast - or the witches’ spell was broken - and it couldn’t be saved. Yet here was a show from the Cameron Mackintosh stable that put the through-sung musical drama that he pioneered behind it and restored the values of a strongly characterised book by John Dempsey that pulsed with comic life, and even a seriously provocative sexual edge - it is distinctly not family fodder. And it is lovingly propelled by a quirkily exuberant musical score by composer Dana P Rowe that bursts with melody and musical wit.

Now with the bright, young director Nikolai Foster at the helm and a cast punchily led by Marti Pellow, who brings an insinuatingly creepy charisma to the central role of Darryl van Horne, a new touring production finally releases the potential that was always there - just as van Horne’s arrival in the fictional town does the same thing for three lonely women as they encounter a life force bigger than any of them have experienced before.

Pellow brings a slinky, serpentine, medallion-wearing grace to the stage. And the trio of Ria Jones as sculptor mother Alexandra Spofford, Rebecca Thornhill as aspiring writer Sukie Rougemont, who finds herself constantly lost for words, and Poppy Tierney as teacher and cellist Jane Smart, project their characters’ vulnerabilities with strength and confidence.

Peter McKintosh’s design deftly flies in a series of the interiors for each of their clapboard houses, as well as a more solidly realised mansion for van Horne. Geoffrey Garrett, who worked with Bob Avian and Stephen Mear on the original choreography, smartly recreates their work as well as introducing some smooth transitions of his own.

This is a first-class touring production that may have cut the fat from the musical, but hasn’t cut corners in revealing its strengths at last.