The Wizard Of Oz - Kaleidoscope Players

Thursday 23rd July 2026

"The Wizard Of Oz" 

Kaleidoscope Players 

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 Stars)

As I entered the theatre, I was greeted by Ozians offering programmes, raffle tickets and the like. They were dressed all in green with steampunk style goggles. A great way to make the audience feel transformed into a new world.

The auditorium was buzzing with excitement. I met a friend who had brought her young son, who had never been to the theatre before, and it was so lovely to see fresh eyes falling in love with theatre and this was the perfect production to start with.

The Wizard of Oz tells the story of Dorothy who is swept up by a tornado to the magical Land of Oz. With the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion, she follows the Yellow Brick Road to find the Wizard, hoping to get home. After many adventures, she learns that friendship, courage and home are what matter most.

This performance was BSL interpreted by Sebastian Probert. I love that theatre is becoming more accessible and Seb did such a fab job of telling the story whilst not distracting from the action.

The attention to detail throughout this production was admirable. At the beginning, the costumes, set, and animation are dull and brown but as soon as we are transported to Oz everything turns into colour. 

The clever transformation is done but pieces of house surrounding Dorothy, spinning her into a whirlwind, allowing Hannah (Dorothy) to run side of stage for her quick change without being noticed. 

With the soon to be mystical characters spinning round the stage with iconic pieces you recognise as being from the scarecrow, tin man and the one that I was most impressed by, the crate with a subtle lion logo on. This slick movement is put together by Alice Goodall and Tessa Raum as directors, Amy Bradford as movement director, Denise Brown, Lucy Cadney, Zoe Shepherd, and Deb Weetman as costume designers.

Tessa has many talents, as do most of the team, along side her partner Jason Kramer, who is also the technical director and puppetry, they created interchangeable set panels that have multiple uses, simple but effective.

The bubble was one thing that I did find very clever. With the help of the prop makers, Lucy Cadney, Kerry-Ann Roe, and Deb Weetman, they created what I can only imagine as a hoop arch had been covered in shimmery material and was moved being the rostra at the back of the stage, allowing the illusion of Glinda floating in a bubble. Another thing that Tessa had fabulously created was the animation for the projection. It showed the fields of the farm changing, the tornado appearing and the changing of the witch as well as creating backdrops for multiple scenes. A great addition to help tell the story.

The costumes were also a firm favourite of mine as they had a modern twist mixed with steampunk with still a nod to the traditional outfits you expect. Again, the details were on point. From even the bag that switches from dull to colour in the transformation. 

The two witch costumes were also favourites of mine. Glinda had shimmer, pink, and poofiness as you’d expect, while the wicked witch has leather trousers, corset like top, boots with a green wig and hat (which did seem to have a mind of it’s own!). The lion, full of fur (I didn’t envy how warm that must have been!), the scarecrow had fun dungarees with straw that appeared to be spewing out as if it were stuffing, and the tin man, made up of cogs, bits of metal and face paint. All costumes really encompass the characters characteristics which really added to their personalities.

The singing throughout was full of harmonies, backing vocals and stunning solos from the main characters. The arrangements were put together by Bethan Davies-Taylor, the musical director.

The choreography of these songs were gracefully put together by Amy Bradford, Josephine Walker and Evie Barfield. There did seem to be a style difference between songs, I assume this is down to personal strengths of the choreographers, however, this just showed off how versatile the cast were.

Speaking of the cast. I was very impressed with the casting of the principles. I feel like they were chosen so perfectly. Hannah Bradford played Dorothy Gale so gently and had such a hint of Judy Garland from the original film. And getting to play against her sister Amy Bradford must’ve been so fun.

Amy played the scarecrow, who starts and ends as Hunk the farmhand. The clumsiness of this character was truly perfect, the slips and falls, dramatized to add pauses for audience laughter, which was very much given. I specifically enjoyed ‘If I Only Had a Brain’ as another family member, Michelle Bradford alongside Theresa Hartwright joined in as crows, where the puppets would jump on the scarecrow and mock is not so scary face.

Zoe Shepherd played Tinman, starting and ending as Hickory, another farmhand. Throughout the show, Zoe really makes the character likeable yet believable with the constant stiffness of movement even during the dances. Something I’m sure is actually rather hard to do.

Evie Barfield plays the cowardly lion, starting and ending as Zeke. Evie stood out for me purely from the energy she gave and vivid facial expressions. I thoroughly enjoyed the march she did as her and the others followed the Winkies, as did the first-time theatre goer sitting next to me.

Rachel Robinson played Toto, giving the dog puppet emotion and a voice amazingly.

Lucy Cadney played Aunt Em and Glinda, from a frail old lady to a beautiful powerful witch. Martin Church played Uncle Henry and Guard, a typical man from the time of brushing problems to a funny yet snappy guy looking after the door to the Wizard.

Kerry-Ann Roe played Miss Gulch and Wicked Witch, both mean and slightly scary. Rob Simpson played Professor and Wizard, he’s cheeky, sly yet smart. Using clever voice effects to create the booming voice of the Wizard puppet. 

Alice Goodall, Tessa Raum, Josephine Walker, Michelle Bradford, Theresa Hartwright, Julie Black, Caitlin Wright, Beth Margett, Freya Mosley and Ron Murfin make up the ensemble, each with small speaking/singing parts, along side the ensemble is the junior ensemble, made up of Charlotte, Alex, Jessica, Rosie, Callum and Madison. Altogether, the cast had a family feel with a familiarity to the original roles from the film. They all did such a fab job!

Moving on to the technical side, the sound design and operation was done by Dave Dallard, every word was so crisp and clear. Every time I see a show that Dave’s done, he always smashes it. Although it seemed like the speaker we were in front of had a few moments where it dropped out for some reason.

 

The lighting design and operation was by Aaron Mace, I enjoyed the use of a colour chase to create the rainbow, obvious but has to be done, as well as the brick gobo in yellow to create the yellow brick road. It did seem like there was bits where it felt clunky and harsh on the other hand.

A lot of the direction for this show I found like it told the story so well and it was so engaging. There was a lot of moments where the cast went into the audience and came down the stairs. I liked this as it felt like we were being immersed in the action, this was something that the children around me also found very fun and astounding.

Overall, this production was thoroughly enjoyable and it’s safe to say that the people around me had a great time, although we did unfortunately have a couple in front of us who did disrupt the show with talking loudly, getting up and buying alcohol which upset another audience member who lashed out at them causing an awkward pause and lapse of concentration for the actors as well as other audience members. Just a reminder to anyone who feels they aren’t enjoying the show, please don’t ruin it for others who do want to be there, be respectful. 

On that note, after the show, we went out the front of the theatre to congratulate the cast and there were a couple of very drunk angry men which did create an uneasy atmosphere for a group of us. If you are coming to see this show, please do be careful outside of the theatre and stay safe.

Without the negatives of these disruptions, the show itself was very well put together, it’s clear that the team worked well together to create an engaging and fun yet so iconic production, so much thought has gone into each specific point and it’s definitely made the show stand out from others I’ve seen. I had a great time, and everyone should be so proud of what they’ve achieved. I would definitely say it’s worth a watch, and if you’re thinking of which show to take a child to the theatre for the first time, this one is a great start! Well done all!

You can catch "The Wizard Of Oz" at Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton until Saturday 25th July 2026.

Written By: Kiah Murray-Smith