The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Review – The Amazing Bag of Tricks That Will Make You Believe in Magic | platform

IIf you catch a young audience member at just the right moment, when they’re old enough to participate fully but not so old that the sharp edges of teenage sarcasm are starting to creep in, you can make them really believe in the magic of theater. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is the kind of show that will make them – and maybe some adults – believe in magic.

It may seem odd to start by praising the lighting design, but this is one of the most luminous pieces of theater you will ever see. Lighting designer Simon Bond’s barn doors, gels and gobos are integral to creating many of the illusions on stage. Director Paul Bosco McEnany was a magician before he turned his hand to stage direction and unloaded his bag of tricks on the jewel-like stage of the Buxton Opera House.

Narrator Gonda (Philippa O’Hara) begins conjuring up out of nowhere a village of 100 wooden houses, the village sprawling out into the darkness, the first of many wonderfully staged images created by designer Diana Ennis. Much of the story is simply told by Gonda. When sung occasionally, Fiona O’Kane and Neve Hutchinson’s score adds to the mystical quality of the storytelling.

Gonda lives in a wooden hut with her mother and father, in a village watched over by a magician. He appears in the form of an owl – you’ll believe he flies on and around the stage with actual wind in his wings before taking on human form. When her father falls ill, Gunda ventures into the forest to find the wizard, learn his magic, and heal her father.

For fans of the Disney version of this story, there’s a moment when an army of brooms fly around the stage. But there is much more to this stage adaptation, a co-production between Northern Irish company Cahoots and Buxton Opera House. Tricks include levitation, shape-shifting, and objects – and people – appearing out of nowhere. Entrances and exits are not much of a challenge for this director. Keeping everything is a simple and effective story. All in all, it’s really charming.