'Fantastic Mr Fox' review: excellent performances let down by ageing material
The Level-1 drama production brought one of Roald Dahl's most iconic works to life, but cracks in Dahl's writing are showing. And they are not always pretty.
The three farmers are introduced in the opening scenes. Bean, played by Naomi Chileshe, Finn Nelson as Boggis and Ma’a Pau’u as Bunce. This dynamic trio captures the audience's attention and draws it towards the plot that is soon unfolded. Each actor became their role, changing their voices and stances to replicate the protagonists. This touch added to a believable play and allowed for a more immersive experience. Each of their voices rang clear through the room and it was a bold opening to a great play. The rest followed suit, with quick prop changes and great sound and lighting effects. This added to the overall professional feel of the play— however, without these, it might have felt a bit lacklustre. This together made a wonderful performance well worth the $5 admission fee.
Despite the beautiful performance, Roald Dahl’s work is shrouded with controversy. Misogynistic views are all too frequent in his works and Fantastic Mr Fox is no exception. The costume design also supported these ideas, as Mr Fox wore a large suit with shoulder pads asserting his large frame. Compared to Mrs Fox, dressed in a shawl and nightgown- a little too similar to what a frail elderly woman would wear. The women are recurrently mentioned as fragile and Mrs Fox is the weakest of them all after many days without food. She says that she cannot be of any help and bows out though not before mentioning that ‘my husband is a fantastic fox’. Mrs Badger, although not seen in the play, is also described as ‘so weak she can't even dig another yard’. This is presented as perfectly normal, as if women are expected to be the faintest.
On the contrary, Miss Augustine has tried to combat this by casting opposite-gender roles. This is a modern touch that challenges the old-fashioned views that Roald Dahl depicts in his work.
Even the last scene is all about hailing the all-conquering male hero. Every heterosexual couple is sitting around a table eating food that Mrs Fox prepared - that she made, despite being too weak to dig. Mr Fox praises her for the meal, the first time he acknowledges her throughout the play. Instead of accepting it, she deflects the praise saying that the children helped too, and then shrinks again into the background. There are just too many aspects of Roald Dahl’s work that have aged poorly in the play.
Overall the acting and authenticity of the performance were executed spectacularly. Still, outdated themes within the book (and in some of Roald Dahl's other works)--make us question how relevant his stories are today.