Mad Hatter well and truly hit the target with Sondheim show

I’VE run out of superlatives to describe how utterly brilliant the young performers that make up Colchester’s Mad Hatter Theatre Company are.

I thought they had pretty much raised the bar to its limits with last year’s production of the Drowsy Chaperone but with their vibrant, buzzing version of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, they’ve smashed that show out of the park.

Not so much a musical but a freakish carnival-themed drama with musical interludes, I’ve always said Mad Hatter could do with stretching their acting skills and boy did this show ever give them a work out.

I feel rather guilty picking out names in what was truly an incredible ensemble achievement but in terms of the acting Tom Campe’s Charles Guiteau was exceptional as was Tom Tanner as Sam Byck.

I was also very impressed by Connor Pratchett who despite having to cope with a difficult Polish accent was incredibly convincing as angry anarchist Leon Czolgosz.

His all too brief romantic moment with Emily-May Hyde’s Emma Goldman was one of the highlights of the night for me.

With an auditorium littered with news cuttings and battered stars and stripes as well as ingenious ‘Hit’ and ‘Miss’ signs lighting up after each assassination attempt, co-directors Barney Fritz and Will Mugford should justifiably be very pleased with themselves.

In what is a very minor criticism, I would have a lot less ‘sitting down’, especially at the front of the stage where the action can be concealed from the audience.

But other than that, and in what is a technically bonkers show, they, and their excellent cast, pulled off another triumphant hit.

NEIL D’ARCY-JONES