CityLife

The Hobbit

The Hobbit
Palace Theatre
May 25, 2010

The magic and adventure of Middle Earth comes to life in a stage adaptation of The Hobbit.

Although Peter Jackson's proposed film version is facing continuing delays, fans of JRR Tolken's classic text will enjoy the live version currently on show at The Palace.

Vanessa Ford's production features an all male cast and begins in the Shire where Sorcerer of Middle Earth Gandalf (Christopher Robbie) meets thieving Hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Christopher Llewellyn) and asks him to complete a great journey.

Bilbo reluctantly accepts the challenge and teams up with Thorin Oakenshield (Andrew Coppin) the King of the Dwarves who is in search of his kingdom's lost treasure.

The Hobbit, the King and four Dwarves begin a journey where they encounter dangerous giant Goblins, mischievous Elves and a plethora of other characters.

It seemed like a lot of thought was put into casting as the Dwarves were all shorter than Bilbo who is also a tiny creature and the Gobblins and Elves were all played by taller actors.

When Bilbo gets separated from the group in a cave, he meets the mysterious Gollum, played expertly by Russell Clough.

Dressed in little more than a loin cloth, the green-Gollum is definitely a pre-cursor to the one that features in The Lord of the Rings trilogy as he is younger, less obsessed with his ring and more trusting of Bilbo than the latter Gollum would be. He is also funny at times which brings a certain charm to the character.

He and Bilbo play a game of riddles before the Hobbit finds Gollum's precious ring and steals it by putting it on his finger and becomes invisible.

As disappearing on stage is next to impossible, the music and sharp lighting remind the audience that Bilbo is invisible.

An actor dressed as a giant spider opens the second act and Abigail Hammond's fantastic costume with eight appendages is brilliant as it dances across the stage.

The production is true to Tolken's text and the excellent set design easily morphs into the various parts of Middle Earth.

The background music is somewhat distracting but aside from this, the production is very good although some younger audiences may find the Gobblins, giant spider and dragon a bit scary.

The adaptation provides few laughs and leaves the audience with a sense of unease and a warning of the dark things that will come to Middle Earth in the future.

But fans of Tolken and The Hobbit will certainly enjoy the play.

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