Over the Autumn Term, the cast and crew of the school musical have been working incredibly hard towards the performance of The Addams Family, a quirky take on this popular franchise.  Their hard work paid off with entertaining and engaging performances over four nights.

Mr Foster and Mrs Du Vivier, in their new roles as Musical Director and Choreographer, did fantastically to put the cast through their paces, along with the Theatrical Director, Mr Jenkins, in order to deliver a superb performance. Many of the ensemble cast were unrecognisable behind the ghost-like make-up required to turn them into the Addams Ancestors, but fortunately they kept themselves in good voice for the chorus numbers,  with eight of the ensemble impressing even more as ‘Dancestors’, performing a range of inventive and witty dance routines to bring the show to life.

The ten principal actors had significant work to do in a musically ambitious show in which the challenge sometimes was to sing both well and comically – a hard feat to pull off. The premise of the show is basically a romantic comedy in which three ‘normal’ Americans meet the decidedly kooky Addams Family due to the romance between Wednesday Addams and typical preppy young man, Lucas Beineke.

As with all romantic comedies since Shakespeare, we descended into delicious anarchy as all the romantic relationships seemed potentially doomed before a series of mix-ups and misadventures brought us to a point where love could triumph. Chief architect of some of the mayhem was Ailsa L as a zany and high energy Uncle Fester – the culmination of five years of involvement with the Fettes stage. Equally unhinged were Martha D as a maniacal Grandma and Hamish F as Pugsley Addams, disrupting all the best laid plans in his determination to remain the chief victim of his sister’s malice. Jamie S showed impeccable comic timing and presence in the almost wordless role of Lurch, the zombie butler, but proved he could sing with a rip-roaring final song. Matteo C and Amelie W excelled as the ‘normal’ couple of Mal and Alice Beineke, capturing their marital tantrums, middle-aged breakdowns and ‘dad-dancing’ rediscovery of romance brilliantly. Equally impressive in conveying a younger version of love were Toby L and Anne R as Lucas Beineke and Wednesday Addams, both impressing with strong vocal performances and the tension of discovering where love might take them.

Finally, Sylvie McA and Hugo T were exceptional as the heart of the Addams Family, Morticia and Gomez, bringing to life the mordant humour of both characters and leading the way with highly impressive song and dance numbers.

Performing an ‘off-beat Gothic’ musical surrounded by the Gothic revival architecture of Fettes felt entirely fitting: a heart-warming tale of kindness and loving families – perfect for the run-up to Christmas!