Honk! The Ugly Duckling

Synopsis

Spring has come to the duckyard. Drake, the Mallard Duck, and his long suffering partner, Ida, await the birth of a new brood, but the nest seems to contain one inordinately large egg this year. Sure enough, it cracks open to reveal an ugly chick nothing like his siblings, who makes a strange honk sound instead of the expected quack! Ida warms to him, though, and takes him out for the first swim on the lake, finding him to be a prodigious swimmer. The other farmyard fowl, however ridicule him, driving him into the eager arms of Tom Cat. Ugly escapes by the skin of his teeth, but with night falling he becomes lost... Winner of 2000 Olivier Award for Best New Musical.

Our Review:

28 September 2011

Everyone knows the children's tale of the Ugly Duckling who is bullied by the other creatures because of his looks. Ugly is lured to leave home by a psychotic hungry cat and meets a troupe of tap-dancing frogs and a goose-stepping gander with illusions of military prowess before eventually discovering that he's no ugly duckling after all.

While not exactly as Hans Christian Andersen wrote it, Stiles and Drewe have taken the theme of the outcast and crafted it into a charming, funny and uplifting musical drama. As with all the best family-centred entertainment, Honk! can be enjoyed on many levels - as a simple fairy-story, or as a tale of a mother's fierce love for her child, or even a narrative on diversity and acceptance - but it works best as a straightforward and colourful musical.

Directed by Neil-Michael Marriott, this revival is enthusiastically played by a predominantly young company who make the most of the small space of the Lost Theatre. The set is m...

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Latest User Review

Alison - 20 September 2011:

A cast of enthusiastic, talented peopl who kept the audience amused throughou the show. the ensemble were extremely adept at the quick changes they had to make and all of us thoroughly enjoyed it. A Fabulously, funny family show!! Will go see again!! ...

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