Once again, the hills were alive with the sound of music as the Barrow Arts Theatre Group performed their rendition of, if you hadn’t guessed, The Sound of Music back in November. On the day I saw it, it had been cold and raining all day, so I was really looking forward to getting out of the house and enjoying a show. This is not the first production of theirs I’ve seen, in fact I’ve seen quite a few now, and yet I am always impressed year on year by every performance.

The vocal performances, as ever, were fantastic; the songs themselves are so iconic at this point that anything less would be a disservice but as expected everyone was exceptional. Standout performances for me personally were The Mother Abbess (Jane Robinson) and Maria (Lucy Hardy), both individually but particularly when duetting My Favourite Things. It’s sadly not a song you typically hear often unless you regularly listen to show tunes, which is a shame because it’s really fun and positive which immediately lifted the spirits on what had been quite a cold and wet day. From an acting standpoint the cast was exceptional across the board with all involved really embodying their characters. However, the show was well and truly stolen by little Gretl Von Trapp (Evelyn Crossley) who never failed to get a smile or a laugh from the entire audience. I was also impressed by the fact that the actors playing the soldiers in the second half didn’t shy away from or downplay their roles, they were serious and intense which I liked because they weren’t afraid to set the appropriate mood going forward.

In fact, what struck me most about the show was the drastic shift in tone between the fi rst and second act which I think was handled perfectly. The first half is all about falling in love so it ends with a bright and happy sense of optimism for the future but, knowing the story beforehand, I, of course, knew it would take a bit of a dark turn eventually in the second half. What impressed me the most was how, in the space of one or two scenes, the mood had totally shifted into a grim and oppressive atmosphere. An excellent touch was having the audience “watched” at all times by soldiers as the show progressed giving us an ever-present eerie feeling. The eight-foot swastika flag hanging centre stage also helped just a tad. At one point a man a few rows in front of me got up, presumably to use the facilities, and was followed all the way up the stairs by a soldier with a torch, which I expect was less fun for him than it was for me. Intense though it was, it was a brilliant way to put us in the mind of the characters living through it. Absolutely brilliant set design.

All in all, it was a fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable evening and I can’t wait to go and see their next show.

Elliot Wilkes