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Barbara Loots
The current staging of THE ADDAMS FAMILY THE MUSICAL at the Homecoming Centre promises to surprize, enchant, and deeply move with its gothic humour and macabre charms as it unpacks a story of love. It delivers on some of these promises and misses the mark on others.
The Story in a Nutshell
I am willing to bet that most people reading this have some idea of who the strange, deranged The Addams Family is:
“They're creepy and they're kooky
Mysterious and spooky
They're all together ooky
The Addams family.”
(You sang along while reading that, I know!)
In the musical take on this beloved contrary ghoulish family, you encounter a meet-the-parents scenario. The unamused and mostly morbid Wednesday Addams has fallen in love with an “ordinary” boy, Lucas, who dreams of becoming a writer, or maybe a coroner. The lovebirds try and navigate their perceived family and personality differences during a combined family dinner at the Addams house. Uncle Fester (with the aid of the family ancestors) makes it his mission to help love along.
The Unpopular View
My viewing of the MotherCity Theatre Production’s presented THE ADDAMS FAMILY THE MUSICAL, is sadly an experience of conflicting parts. The show has a stellar, talented cast (who give it their all, and then some), but the show feels let down by the directorial and creative decisions.
This observation may sound harsh and contrary to the general praise that has been lauded on the first professional offering of MotherCity Theatre Productions.
The musical itself has split critics and audiences from the time of its Broadway debut. If one scratches at the surface, the book doesn’t hold up on all plot points (one being the apparent difficulty Morticia Addams experiences with the idea of aging). But the critiques have not dissuaded fans from flocking to the musical’s staging around the world.
With such issues being no secret, the producers have made a clear choice to tap into the general Addams Family appeal with the current Cape Town offering at the Homecoming Centre.
Financially, this is perhaps a smart move for a first theatrical venture, as THE ADDAMS FAMILY THE MUSICAL, for all its flaws, usually does well at the box office thanks to the Addams devotees: The musical has found a loyal, unflappable audience base who embrace the nostalgia of the characters created by Charles Addams without question.
Local Addams enthusiasts similarly appear to be following their hearts with the support shown for the current production of THE ADDAMS FAMILY THE MUSICAL. Online hype gives the impression that they are definitely buying into the fun of this rare opportunity to see their favourite characters come to life onstage and in fact regard it as a great treat.
But my task is not to write a fan love letter to the musical. My task is to critically evaluate the sum of the parts of the MotherCity Theatre Productions presented THE ADDAMS FAMILY THE MUSICAL to give an honest review so that whoever, after reading this, chooses to purchase a ticket can do so with a “full disclosure”, in deference to the no-secrets game played by the Addamses.
The Hits
Without a doubt the cast is the absolute hit. They carry the show from start to finish.
Reigning supreme amongst the stellar line-up is Tiaan Rautenbach as Gomez Addams. The unquestionably talented Rautenbach gives a performance that astounds. He embodies Gomez with a clear understanding of the nuances of his character, making Gomez an absolute highlight of this show.
Yahto Kraft is a pure charm bomb as the unbalanced romantic Uncle Fester who is totally besotted with the moon, while Bethany Dickson as the high-strung Alice Beineke (Lucas’ Mom) delightfully personifies sexual tension on the brink of release, coping only with the aid of ‘Mama’s Little Helpers’ and popping those helpers like candy.
Kraft and Dickson are hot on Rautenbach’s heels as show favourites, as they all impress with great vocals and impeccable comedic timing, elevating the production value throughout.
The equally talented principals making up the rest of the family include Samantha Peo (Morticia Addams), Candice van Litsenborgh (Granny), Brendan van Rhyn (Lurch), Jordyn Schaefer (Wednesday Addams), Londi Zuma and Connor Merryweather (alternating as Pugsley Addams), along with Chad Baai (Lucas Beineke) and Chris van Rensburg (Mal Beineke, Lucas’ Dad) as the soon-to-be family. Collectively they bring the off-beat characters to life in a very endearing manner.
They are supported by a strong troupe of ensemble dancers who step into the shoes of the beyond-death-supportive Addams Ancestors, while some double as occasional puppeteers too.
The cast deserves applause for the presence and purpose they bring to their madcap characters. They lure you into the Addams Family world and seduce you with their escapades. They achieve this feat in spite of the fact that the creative vision appears to fight them in this endeavour, with the overall vision being so utterly un-Addams, that it verges on the painfully ordinary.
The Misses
The generic manner in which the show has been conceived speaks to a lot of missed opportunities. The creative team fails to fully appreciate that you can produce a true black diamond with this show if you are willing to fully plunge into the dark depths where its charm resides.
Garth Tavares’ direction, as the captain steering the cast and creative team, appears to intentionally steer the ship away from the tantalizing Addams darkness, embracing the kooky more so than the spooky, even avoiding just a little bit of extra ooky. This is most evident in the character of Wednesday Addams who reads more as a sulky teenager upon first meeting instead of the unflappable, morbid, and moody treat envisioned by her original creator. Not allowing her deadpan, unimpressed demeanour to fully shine through, initially at least, leaves little room for development when she supposedly reveals herself as giving into the sad/happy emotional seesaw of love.
The blocking and the choreography also appear ill conceived for the theatre space, with performers often getting in each other’s way, slowing down cues and overcrowding the space. The latter being the biggest choreography offence, especially in the final tango scene, with movement feeling restrained in complete contrast to the uninhibited nature of the tango as a dance.
When it comes to the dance numbers you almost want choreographer Nkosinathi Mazwai to adapt the Coco Channel styling rule to his dance vision and appeal to him to take two or three dancers out of a number before sending it out to an audience on a very compact stage. One shivers to think what could happen on the overcrowded stage if a performer were to lose their footing and connect with a wall or pillar forming part of the set.
Which brings me to perhaps the biggest missed opportunity, the set design by Nicolaas de Jongh and Martinus Basson.
The show practically begs set designers to explore a treasure trove of horror tropes without the fear of being called cliché, because the Addams Family invites just that: Sheer Halloweenish horror indulgence. However, nothing about the set design says gothic family abode. In fact, it is almost offensively modern, with sleek shiny pillars and theatre boxes dressed up with mirrors (or in this instance perspex giving the illusion of mirror). The few occasions where lights reveal skulls and randomly stacked chairs at the bottom of mirror-like pillars are simply not enough to hint at a gloomy feel. The closest that gets us aesthetically is museum-like. The handful of skulls scattered around the edge of the stage also does not do the trick of turning the apparently modern house with limited lighting into a spooky Addams dwelling. It gives the impression of an after thought that does not align with the sleek image of the set.
The set design also struck me as aesthetically very similar to the mirror-like inspiration for the set of “Die Fel Omstrede Kroon van Edward II en Gaveston”, which Basson directed and designed early in 2024. This gives one reason to ruminate that the design is perhaps super imposed onto the musical instead of the musical inspiring a unique design that compliments the narrative and tone.
Apart from being out of sync with the dark and gothic style one associates with the Addams Family, the set also appears impractical. One gets the sense that it is a cumbersome obstacle for the cast to navigate. It further leaves no room to hide any elements, with a yet-to-drop “surprise” clearly visible in the rafters from the moment you take your seat. It’s not much of a reveal if you can see the reveal upfront.
In addition to the set design appearing to stand in conflict with the Addams Family aesthetic, the sound design also doesn’t come to the aid of the performers. At times the sound balance feels completely off, overpowering the fantastic vocals of the cast, who to their credit pivot as required and step up to belt out a note or five to make up for any unexpected sound snafus.
The PG-ness of it all
THE ADDAMS FAMILY THE MUSICAL is generally regarded as family friendly entertainment, but perhaps just a quick observation to help with the guidance of the parental decision you take when booking.
A dad and his little girl (she looked about 7 or 8 years old) eagerly took their seats next to us. They appeared to enjoy the show up to the dinner scene where Alice Beineke takes a big swig from the communal family goblet at dinner, and cozies up to Lurch. Lurch in turn puts his hands over his crotch and turns his back to the audience. It’s at this point that the little girl turned to her dad asking what Lurch was doing with his hands. The dad awkwardly tried to explain the boner joke away without having to reference it as such or engage in any version of ‘the talk’ at that time… They did not return to their seats after interval.
The discomfort of the moment perhaps reveals that the show is maybe not family friendly at every beat or may not fall within the acceptable guidance parameters of every family. This would also be dependent on the age of your kids and how comfortable you would feel responding to any clarifying questions they may have. This observation is in no way a dig at the production, which is promoted as requiring parental guidance. So, you be the guide. This is just something to keep in mind when you plan the family night out at the theatre.
The Sum of All the Parts
All in all what gives the show its fun element is the talented performers who do what they do best: embrace their characters fully and make entertaining the audience with commitment and a professional spirit their focus. And they have fun with it, so you buy into their resilient energy. They keep the gothic heart of THE ADDAMS FAMILY THE MUSICAL beating with macabre determination, even while everything else appears stacked against them and the Addams essence of it all.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY THE MUSICAL is onstage at the Homecoming Centre until 2 February 2025. Tickets can be booked online through Webtickets.