Watership Down

My Watership Down Musical Review:

As a Watership Down fan, I was apprehensive about what was in store for this musical. Luckily, I have been pleasantly surprised.

Plot:

Though it differs greatly from the book, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. With the time constraints that this production had, I actually applaud their fabulous job of keeping the main message and including all the necessary scenes and characters. Even with this massive down-sizing, the plot flows smooth and clean.

Pacing:

The musical ran very, very fast. Of course! They had to pack a ~474 page, 4 part book into one small hour. This fast pace is almost the opposite of the original source material’s slow and tense journey. Still, I think this fast pace was a good change. After all, a very slow, drawn-out story doesn’t make the most captivating theatre. With this production, I loved how there was never a dull moment or lull in action. It was certainly fast but not rushed.

Music:

Music is one thing that can make or break a musical production. It can either be very captivating and draw the story along, or it can be distracting and annoying. At first, for a story that makes a point that rabbits never sing or dance, I was worried how they were going to pull this off. Amazingly, the songs were enjoyable and meaningful. They weren’t annoying or distracting by any means! All were placed well and had a purpose; nothing felt forced. The folk style of music fits Watership Down wonderfully.

Another kind of music that often gets over looked in theatre, is the ambient background music that is played throughout the performance, with no singing accompanying it. Here, they utilized it perfectly. The almost constant soft strings made it so there was no awkward silence. Fantastic.

Acting/Characters:

Amazing acting and singing. Very clear projection from all actors, no mics needed. Some British accents would have made it more convincing that they were in England. But nevertheless, everyone was very confidant in the characters they were meant to be playing. The character performances were very consistent despite some personality changes from the book too. The acting and dialogue made it very clear these were rabbits, even if the costumes left a lot up to interpretation. I especially liked Kehaar’s acting. Even with no wings or beak, there was no doubt he was a bird!

Set/World building/Lighting/Visuals:

I had a hard time telling that this was placed in the lush, rolling downs of England. But, considering the set was basically nothing due to limitations from the Fringe. I can’t be too harsh. Even so, the creativity forced by these limitations made for some of the MOST impressive visual effects. I LOVED the simple blue cloth as the river! From acting alone I could tell they were cold and struggling in an immense amount of water. The use of lights too, were phenomenal. I loved the use of dark and the red light to show Fiver’s visions. Very engrossing and well placed.

Spectacular dog puppet!

Costumes:

My biggest critique is that of the costumes. For me, they don’t make much sense. This is a story about rabbits. But, they aren’t just any rabbits, throughout the whole book the rabbits of Watership do nothing anthropomorphic. They are rabbits through and through. And, I feel as if this fact is an important one; it’s what distinguishes this work from other rabbit or xenofiction works; a realism one doesn’t see too often. So, this should be shown visually. Dressing up a non-anthropomorphic rabbit character like an Englishmen defeats the whole symbol.

Another detail that I can’t help but notice, is that this character design of Watership Down has been done many times before. Matter of fact, in stage productions, it’s the ONLY thing that’s been done before: people dressed as Englishmen, sometimes with rabbits ears on. So, regardless if the costume designer took inspiration from the other plays, it’s just not that creative or compelling.

More importantly, having just the rabbit ears isn’t enough to really convince the audience that they are rabbits. An artistic approach similar to “Cats” would make much more sense for Watership Down. With just ears, the hopping around, and arms to chest, they could be kangaroos for all I know! Same with Kehaar’s design: I love the vest, I love the colors, please give him some wings. From the costume designs alone, I would have had absolutely no idea what he was.

Still, don’t disregard the Englishmen costumes, they could be used as a clever symbol. For instance, you could put Cowslip or Woundwort in something similar; it’s humans who they represent after all! Cowslip and Woundwort both share characteristics of humans that are alien and repulsive to rabbits, I would love to see that.

To the novel:

It was definitely a big change to make this into a musical. A medium that certainly entails dancing and singing of rabbits, for a novel that has none. Because of this, it didn’t seem really “Watership Down” to me.

I would have loved to see more of the folklore, its message on death, and more faithful representations of the characters. However, these are all small critiques compared to the very big, well-made picture.

So, despite its many differences from the book, this production has kept some of Watership Down’s original messages. Specifically, that of man’s effect on nature and wildlife.

Conclusion:

This production is a wonderful addition to all the works of art adapted from Watership Down. Richard Adams himself thought his book couldn’t have been made faithfully into a film. And yet, thought fondly of it; seeing it as a separate piece of art. I think the same now. The production may have left this or that out, but with the fantastical visuals and wonderful music, it has created a world of its own. And, I think, that makes it just as valuable.

Due to time constraints, the plot was heavily simplified from the book’s.

A vision is shown through red light in darkness; stamping rabbits describe a red field of blood.

In the present, in a warren near Sandleford, a rabbit seer named Fiver yells for his older brother Hazel and describes the vision he just saw. Even though they both see a big construction sign (meaningless to them), describing their warren’s destruction, Hazel dismisses him at first. But, with reluctance, is soon convinced to be taken to their chief rabbit, Threarah. At the entrance, they meet Bigwig, a member of the Owsla, who lets them in. The very elderly Threarah, earnestly but detachedly hears Hazel and Fiver. The chief, not convinced by the urgency of Fiver’s vision, sends him (and Hazel) home to rest.

The two brothers head out and are soon approached by Blackberry and Dandelion, who over heard Fiver’s talk and ask to join them. Bigwig then appears through the brambles and states he’s left the Owsla and wants to join them as well.

The group, along with rabbits named Silver and Pipkin, leave the warren. But, they are soon stopped by Captain Holly, the head of the warren’s owsla police force who tries to prevent them to leave. Bigwig fights Holly and the group manages to escape.

As they run away, they avoid a Hrududu and a lendri. Exhausted, they come across a river. Worried about how to get everyone across and a dog behind them, Blackberry finds a floating piece of board to push the weakest rabbits across.

Now on the other side, cold and wet they go to a field with tall plants where they begin to doubt their journey. Seeing this, Hazel suggests that Dandelion tells them a story. In song, Dandelion tells how the world was created by the god Lord Frith. All animals were grass eaters, living harmoniously. The rabbits multiplied, and their appetite led to a food shortage. Frith ordered the rabbit prince, El-ahrairah, to control his people, but was scoffed at. In retaliation, Frith gave special gifts to every animal, making some into predators to control the rabbits. Satisfied that El-ahrairah has learned his lesson, Frith gives rabbits the gifts of speed and cunning. During the story, Hazel’s group of rabbits dance around and sing along; reenacting the story.

After, in the morning, Fiver goes off and see’s the hills that they must go to. Heading south towards them, the others eventually meet an aristocratic rabbit named Cowslip, who invites them to his warren, where a farmer leaves Cowslip's group ample vegetables. They are grateful, and Cowslip invites his guests to tell a story. When Dandelion suggests they tell a one of El-ahrairah, Cowslip’s rabbits laugh and scoffs at it, preferring instead a poem from one of their rabbits. He brings forth Silverweed, who then recites an ominous poem. Disturbed by it, Fiver experiences another vision; one where the roof is made of bones, and leaves. Bigwig follows, berating Fiver for causing tension, when a snare catches Bigwig. Bigwig's friends manage to free him, but he does not move. Feeling Bigwig has died, they sing a ballad about his passing, and plan to seek revenge on Cowslip for not helping. But, they soon realize that the farmer is protecting and feeding Cowslip's warren so that he can snare rabbits for his own meals, and conclude there is no good in going back. Suddenly, Bigwig awakens, and the group returns to its journey.

The rabbits discover Nuthanger Farm, which contains a dangerous cat and a tied up dog. Ultimately, deciding to stay away from it as much as possible.

Finally, they reach the very steep hill that fiver envisioned, and climb it. Making it to the top, they sing and celebrate. But, just as they are relaxing in their new home, Captain Holly finds them and recounts the destruction of Sandleford by humans in song.

Days pass, and while Bigwig is at silflay, he spots a large aggressive, but injured bird. They feed and befriend it, learning its name is Kehaar. Feeling better, Kehaar offers to survey the land in which the rabbits came from for them. He describes the farm, iron road and a large town of rabbits.

A small group of “ambassador” rabbits from Watership Down decide to set out and greet this new warren. Hazel and Fiver stay behind and develop their new warren.

One day, Captain Holly and the other ambassadors return from the expedition and describe the vicious totalitarian warren called "Efrafa". Which is under direction of General Woundwort.

Hazel immediately decides they must go back and free the trapped rabbits in Efrafa. Everyone except Captain Holly go on this mission.

When the group arrives, they see Woundworts’ military way of life. Aside, Woundwort describes how he came to power, from watching his mother being killed by a weasel to taking over a nearby warren and earning their respect through fear.

Bigwig infiltrates the warren and is made an Owsla officer. He recruits several potential escapees to his cause. As a storm rolls in, he brings his mark out to silflay, which grows suspicion from another officer due to its early timing. He attacks him and the group escapes.

As Woundwort and his officers follow them to the river, the efrafans are attacked by Kehaar. The escapees get on a boat and float down the river. That night, Kehaar leaves for his homeland with the gratitude of the warren.

Efrafan trackers eventually find Watership Down. Woundwort rejects Hazel's offer of peace and demands that all deserters must be turned over or the members Watership Down will be wiped out. While the Watership rabbits barricade their warren, Fiver slips into a trance, in which he envisions a dog loose in the woods. His mumbles inspire Hazel to try and release the farm dog and lead it to the Efrafans.

When the Efrafans arrive at the Warren, Woundwort engages in a fight with Bigwig. Only to be interrupted by Fiver who apologizes for his death.

Meanwhile, at the farm, Hazel bites the rope holding the dog and releases it, which starts attacking the Efrafan soldiers, Woundwort abandons Bigwig and fearlessly confronts the dog, which swallows him. Still, no trace of Woundwort is ever found which leaves his fate a mystery.

After the battle, they praise Bigwig for his bravery and celebrate Hazel-rah as chief rabbit. Time goes by, and Watership Down flourishes.

Read Watership Down and its sequel. Watched the movie, the tv series, and the miniseries.