Stratford Festival's unimaginative ‘Hobbit’ strips the colour and heart from the beloved novel

For all its humour and whimsy, J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved novel — about a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, whisked off on an adventure and tasked by the wizard Gandalf to help a group of dwarves reclaim their homeland from the evil, fire-breathing dragon Smaug — is grounded by themes of justice, humility and perseverance. These are concepts that children can understand. Even from a young age, we already have an innate sense of right and wrong. 

But in his stage adaptation, Kim Selody strips away much of the heart that makes the “The Hobbit” what it is. The Canadian playwright seems to believe that the only way to keep young audiences engaged is to stuff in as much action as possible. The result is a two-act show that moves at breakneck pace, yet still feels hollow and some 45 minutes too long. 

Selody tries to include every plot point from the original book, even if that means reducing it to a useless line of narration. Throughout his play, there’s little character development. Scenes lack any sense of tension. His dialogue feels stiffer than Gandalf’s staff. The only thing this adaptation seems concerned about is moving its characters from one scene to the next. 

This all leaves the production’s nine-person cast with little to work with. Richard Lee, as Bilbo Baggins, has nothing to do but play a passive figure who often recedes into the background.

Heidi Damayo, Ijeoma Emesowum, Aaron Krohn, Derek Kwan and Jennifer Villaverde, tasked with portraying all 13 of the dwarves, are made to run around the stage so much that they more resemble chickens with their heads cut off. 

And spare a thought for the incredibly talented Michael Man, who’s been criminally underused so far this Stratford season. Here in this production, as Gollum, he’s made to crawl on all fours and put on a weird high-pitched vocal affectation. Then later, playing another character, he’s saddled with an unfortunate, red-headed wig that looks borrowed from last year’s production of “Anne of Green Gables.” 

I wish I could report that director Pablo Felices-Luna’s production manages to elevate the show, but his staging only rivals the material’s dullness. 

The play, with most of the actors jumping in and out of multiple roles, is written in a way that allows a director to lean into the theatrical medium. It’s a show that can be mounted with limited sets and designs, letting the audience fill in the rest with their imaginations. But Felices-Luna has opted for a heavy-handed esthetic that only further suffocates the story. 

It’s quite astonishing, in fact, that these designs could be made by a creative team of this calibre. Lorenzo Savoini’s lumbering, industrial sets comprise a pair of ramps, along with curved walls that resemble an animal’s rib cage. The puppets, with a limited range of herky-jerky movements, look better suited for a Chuck E. Cheese animatronic show. And Michael Walton’s lighting designs are often so dim that it’s hard to make out who is even on stage.

About midway through the first act, a young girl behind me seemingly gave up. “I’m so sleepy,” she said, sounding guilty and ashamed. I only wish I could’ve turned around and told her that it isn’t she who is the problem, but the play itself.