2026 Audience Reviews

Company: Melancholics Anonymous
Show: Watership Down
Venue: Rarig Stoll Thrust Theatre

I had high hopes - they were exceeded!

I loved this book as a kid and teen, and I know this production company to do wonderful work, so I was very excited for this show. But even my high expectations were blown out of the water. I was a little worried they would have to cut major portions of the book to fit it all into less than an hour. Even moreso, I thought they wouldn't use much if any of the Lapine language that do enthralled me as a child, just so it would be more accessible to thosevwho were not familiar with the source material. Instead, I found that what little they did need to cut or change I thought was fair and warranted (warren-ted?). I thought the characters were clear, and despite the breakneck pace of the entire show and my audio processing disorder, I was able to follow virtually every word, as they often used music, thumping, and/or physical actions to punctuate and further illustrate what was being said. I was especially impressed at how well they managed to actually use quite a bit of Lapine, but kept the audience who was not familiar understanding while showing rather than telling the definitions of the words they used. For instance, "silflay" and "hraka" were never verbally defined, but it seemed like the entire audience gasped or laughed when they were used together in a fight and we all heard "eat shit!". The songs and dance choreo were excellent, I would absolutely being those to a folk sing or folk dance event! Loved the costuming and moments of puppetry, as well as the fight choreo that gave a distinct impression of how rabbits fight without trying to literally make human bodies try to do what bunnies do in a fight. As had been said by others, I would *love* a recording of the songs, and even moreso I would love a full-length production! Throughout the show I got chills, laughed, gasped at the unexpected or just a perfectly-timed moment, and did cry a little at the end. I think they only minor criticism I might have is that because the show has to fit in so much in such a little time, there often are times when the audience wants to react but there basically isn't time to do so very much before we had to quiet to understand the next thing. Something that would be entirely fixed by making it a full-length production! Great job, folks, great job.