THE ADDAMS FAMILY Directed by Rachel Bunting Tameside Youth Drama Group (Amateur) For those of us of a certain vintage, we can remember children’s TV consisting of cartoons, Blue Peter/Magpie and watching 1960s black and white programmes such as The Addams Family. They provided the laughs then and still continue to do so. “They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky, they’re all together ooky”, if you’ve not heard or seen this kooky clan, where have you been? The Addams Family dates back to the 1930s when they featured in magazines, and went on to be a television series, films, video games and now, as a musical. In this story of love, family and friendship, Wednesday Addams, has a shocking secret – she’s fallen in love with a young man from a respectable, normal family. Wednesday begs for “one normal night”, when her amour’s parents come for dinner. She asks her father to keep her plans secret but her mother gets suspicious. Chaos ensues when Wednesday’s little brother, Pugsley, hatches a plan to bring her back to the dark side. From the moment I saw the curtains part and two hands appeared to provide the familiar clicks to the opening iconic signature tune, I knew I was in for an enjoyable afternoon as I sat back to wallow in nostalgia. The first thing that struck me was the ethereal atmosphere that had been created by the creative team of Rachel and Philip Bunting, Dave and Victoria Husband, Katie and Steven Hartley, and Becci Alberti. The flow of dry ice covering the stage as the ancestors moved forward really set the tone. The staging was simple, yet effective, and while some aspects remained static throughout, this didn’t detract when the scene changes happened.
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