REVIEW: Honk! at The Watermill, Newbury (From Basingstoke Gazette)

REVIEW: Honk! at The Watermill, Newbury

2:49pm Thursday 20th December 2007 in Theatre

THIS is the first play I've ever reviewed so I got there in plenty of time so I could do it properly.

The set is fantastic. I especially liked the big pond in the middle which was full of balls pretending to be water and the nest of giant eggs which was really a piano.

Honk! is the story of the Ugly Duckling which I knew already but this has got songs in it and is much funnier.

All the actors were very good at acting, singing and playing instruments and my favourite characters were Ugly (Mark Anderson) because you feel sorry for him and Cat (Philip Reed) because he is cool, although he does play a horrid trick on the geese at the end of the first bit.

The funniest bits are in the second part where Ugly tries to find his way back to the pond and meets a posh cat called Queenie and a lazy hen that just watches TV and then a bullfrog (pretending to be Tommy Cooper, my dad said) told him that looks aren't everything.

Everything works out well in the end, but I am not allowed to give away too much of the plot so you'll just have to see it for yourself.

Honk! must be good because even the grown ups didn't get bored and I give it 9/10 Daisy points.

- Daisy Phillips, aged six and three quarters, with a little help from her dad, Adrian

Honk! runs until January 5. Tickets are available from the box office on 01635 46044 or online at www.watermill.org.uk