Live theatre is back in Campbelltown – and it’s crazy, ooky and hilarious!
After postponements and the mandatory Zoom rehearsals brought about by the lockdowns, The Addams Family: A New Musical finally hit the Town Hall Theatre stage with a few surprises.
“There’s something about the Addams family, they are so unashamedly proud of who they are as people and so confident in their ways. There is a reason the Addams Family continues to come back, they are timeless,” said Matthew Knopp, who is making his directorial debut with this Campbelltown Theatre Group production.
For a show about a family that loves darkness, you will leave the theatre full of joy from two and a half hours of laughter, and with sore fingers from clicking them along to the iconic theme song.
“The original Broadway production does use puppets, but the way that we approached the puppets in this show was specific to this theatre,” Knopp enthuses.
“It was really something I wanted to bring to this show because I know how much they can add to the experience.”
In the musical, Wednesday Addams is all grown up and secretly engaged to a ‘normal’ man. When she invites his family over for dinner, a whole storm of chaos follows. CTGI transports its audience into this chaos through interesting lighting, smoke machines – and puppets.
“The delays gave us extra time for planning so from a technical point of view, this show is probably more complex compared to other shows CTGI has put on,” Knopp said.
Although the show only features a small cast of just 21, each character is engaging and unique.
“Every single person brings something to their character, wherever you look on stage there are small details you could pick up on one night and if you come back another night you will see details you missed,” Knopp said.
“That is what I love about live theatre, and I really tried to encourage that of the cast.”
And so Sarah Differ’s take on the matriarch of the magnificently morbid family is interestingly different.
“There’s a tendency for people to play Morticia Addams quite dark, but she is just a 50s housewife, she is so devoted to her children and Gomez. They just like some weird stuff,” Sarah said.
Matt Glynn, the show’s Gomez Addams, added in his most convincing Gomez-esque accent, “They are like any family really, everyone has their quirks and eccentricities, the Addams family are just blown to the extremes, but underneath all that ghoulishness, it’s a family story.”
The Addams Family: A New Musical still has five more performances and closes on March 19th. To book tickets visit https://www.ctgi.org.au/the-addams-family
(with input from Kayla King)
