Wimborne Musical Theatre Society 
Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne
Michelle Barter
25 June 2026
The opening night is always tinged with nerves and gremlins but this particular opening night saw record breaking temperatures not felt for the last 50 years. In the absolute best theatre tradition, the show must go on, despite soaring heat, in a fur costume or latex features and, because of this, it shows the true dedication and sheer professional standards of this intrepid group.
The programme has some very interesting Shrek facts, e.g. this was the most expensive musical to produce at a cost of $25 million; oh, for the am dram dreams of having that kind of cash to play with! The Wimborne Musical Theatre Society have done such a wonderful job with this production; the set and costumes were brilliant and I very much enjoyed the puppets that peppered the stage at times, some small such as Gingy (Lauren Ferger-Andrews) and some huge that were all very impressive. This mixed with some great acting and fantastic singing meant that the, fairly full, Tivoli’s audience had a great evening’s entertainment to go with some much needed air con!
I’m sure people have seen the DreamWorks Animation, which was inspired from a children’s book, and know the fairy tale facts but just to catch you up; Shrek, played by Jack Hosking-Ellis, is an ogre in a swamp (his swamp, to be precise), and is invaded by an outcast band of fairy tale freaks, headed up by Pinocchio (A confident Jemma Cable). Shrek promptly seeks to have them all thrown out again. Jack has a wonderful voice, endured the difficulty of a mic that wouldn’t always play ball, but still made himself heard, no small thing on that stage against some amplified music. Shrek embarks on a journey to a kingdom ruled by Lord Farquaad (Alan Colclough) who reigns with narcissistic joy, a big ego for a such small stature. Alan had all the markings of an evil Alan Rickman and was a joy to watch; he had some enviable entrances to stage.
Along the way to the kingdom Shrek meets a talking donkey (obviously) played by David Swain. Donkey is a favourite character and David is excellent at the balance of annoying but lovable; also, bravo for the hooves! Shrek can have his swamp back if he goes on a quest for a fair maiden Princess Fiona (Selina Rumbold) who has been locked in a tower for years waiting for true love to come-Get in line lady!- Selina has a rich lyrical voice as do the younger versions of herself who I thought were incredible (Team Gingy, younger performers for the Thursday performance). With much confusion about beauty and true love we encounter love triangles, a dragon (Charlotte Squibb- another fantastic voice) and the rom-com staple of who will marry whom.
I counted a cast of 28 adults and 9 junior cast of which there is the Team Gingy and Team Pinocchio who have two performances each. A big cast is a lot of fun on stage to watch because you’re working out which fairy tale they all pop up in. Everyone has done such an incredible job on this production, the songs were great fun, I really enjoyed ‘I Think I Got You Beat’ but really, don’t try it at home kids!
I really hope you go visit the swamp, laugh, sing and not be a complete ogre about it. Catch it in The Tivoli Wimborne now until Saturday 27th, you’ll be green and grouchy if you miss it.
