Glinda the good (Rainbow Field) and Elphaba the 'wicked' (Emma Withill) in KADS Wicked
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 7 March 2019)
Karengata
Amateur Dramatics Society (KADS) worked its magic last weekend, lifting us out
of the ordinary into the extraordinary wonderland of Oz where the award-winning
musical, ‘Wicked’ revealed the back story to the Judy Garland classic ‘Wizard
of Oz’.
We were in
GEMS School’s auditorium. But once the witches got their hearing and gave their
version of how the witches got so ‘wicked’, we were swept away into their story
which in one respect is a Parable on Race and the way people’s differences can
become the shallow basis for discrimination, prejudice and cruel incivility.
But ‘Wicked’,
under the deft co-direction of Richard and Clare Hooper, was much more than a
tale of race relations and the damage discrimination can do, although it
definitely played a part in turning Elphaba from being a humble, sweet-souled
(albeit green) girl into the Wicked Witch of the West.
‘Wicked’ is
also a deep, delicate story that interweaves themes of love and betrayal, conning
and cunning, envy and ‘loathing’ which was the title to one of the most amusing
songs of the show. It’s a duet between the two future witches, Glinda (Rainbow
Field) and Elphaba (Emma Withall).
They’re
roommates who initially detest each other. But their loathing turns into
sisterly love, then into a loss that leads one to become Glinda the Good and
Elphaba the wicked.
The beauty
of KADS is that they call themselves ‘amateurs’, yet their group is filled with
thespians who’ve had years of either training or experience or both. That’s why
the intricate sets, made by Richard Hooper, work so well; the 170 costumes made
by Julia Mathews are colorful and carefully fitted; the band led by Julius
Ngare was wholly in sync with the singers; and even the choreography of KADS’
large cast of Munchlins was well-rehearsed by Arnie Umayam.
But if one
person could be sighted for lifting ‘Wicked’ to stratospheric heights, it was
Emma Withill who had the
most challenging role as the green girl who was despised by her father, shunned
by the Munchkins and chased by the Witch hunters. With a luscious and powerful
voice that could’ve moved mountains, she sang her heart out especially after meeting
Fiyero (Tirath Padam) and the two fell impossibly in love. Tirath’s voice
blended beautifully with Emma’s. But their bitter-sweet affair left us wishing
to more of their story.
Tirath Padam, Emma withill and Rainbow Field costarred in KADS' WICKED
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