A Curious Thing - The Story of Mary Anning - 7 out of 10
Heaps Good Productions
TICKETS: A Curious Thing- The Story of Mary Anning | Adelaide Fringe
The story of Mary Anning is a fascinating one. Well known in her lifetime, forgotten in the decades that followed and rediscovered recently, A Curious Thing – The Story of Mary Anning tells her story through song using three actresses for the key stages of her life. Being the telling of a real person’s life story, it's a historical fact to tell you that she had her ups and downs. Losing her father and it sending her family into debt, starting a lucrative fossil selling business (and becoming the inspiration behind the tongue twister She sells seashells) and constantly being frustrated that – as a woman, working class, and a dissenting outsider (a Congregationalist) – she was not allowed to join the Geological Society of London.
The cast of this production are all incredibly talented in their own ways. We meet Mary Anning at age 46 first, having come back from her first walk since being ill along her beach. Played by Michele Kelsey, she shows every ache of her 46 years from scrambling up and down the cliffs of Lyme Regis. Perhaps a little too much, as it creates a slight disconnect when she starts singing for the first time. Michele has a strong singing voice, well supported and clear. She holds the room’s attention as she introduces us to Mary and then blends her voice with her fellow cast members to create some lovely harmonies.
Mia Ferraretto plays Mary Anning at age 24. Recently performing as Christine in Be More Chill, she is a voice to watch and her turn as the young woman who is just starting to make her mark on the world should have felt very familiar to her. Her voice is crystalline and well articulated. And she has just the right amount of indignation at the men around her who consult her for her expertise but share none of the academic credit, even though she calls some of them friends.
Adele Binns as Mary Anning at age 11 captures her youthful curiosity brilliantly. Her voice is bright, supported and melodious. She handles singing three-part harmony and matches and blends with the power and volume of her cast members quite well. It is clear to me that if Adele wants to continue performing in musicals as she grows older, any company will be lucky to have her.
Some technical issues common with opening nights did occur, feedback from microphones an easy one to correct, the balance between the pre-recorded tracks and the vocalists may be a bit harder unless someone rides the sound desk for the entire show.
The show has been written by director Michael Mills using the songs of Professor Flint (Michael Mills) and Gemma Dandie. Executed beautifully by the cast, the songs and their piano track accompaniment have a certain charming naivety about them; you can see Michael’s experience writing songs for children in them. For an evening Fringe show, and therefore an adult and young teen audience, the oft repeated choruses at the end of many of the songs tend to feel laboured. This repetition also allows one to notice the twee nature of the lyrics. Some lyric changes, fleshed out arrangements and some refinement of the book could see this show transformed into something incredibly special. While there is certainly more of Anning’s history to explore to extend the runtime, Mills must be careful not to lose the forest for all the trees he intends to plant.
A Curious Thing – The Story of Mary Anning is a show with a lot of heart, a strong message about being a woman in science (and could be expanded to capture the intersectional barriers of class and faith as well) and three beautiful voices that bring it to life.
–Scott
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