Young festival actors shine in bid for titles
The Bath Young Actor of the Year contest is a highlight of the Midsomerset Festival calendar.
Six talented performers, chosen from the March festival, have competed for the junior and senior titles at The Rose, the drama centre at King Edward’s School, Bath.
Each contestant provided a recital programme on a theme of their choice.
The winner of the junior title was Sasha Jennings who gave a commanding and consistent performance in the pieces she chose on the theme of Growing Pains.
In extracts from Alice Through the Looking Glass and Ella Hickson’s Wendy and Peter Pan, Sasha was commended by adjudicator Rebecca Thompson for her “excellent vocal range” and “good rapport with the audience which really drew us in”. Her performance in Zlata’s Diary, as a young girl living through the siege of Sarajevo, showed real emotional depth.
The other actors in the junior section were Catherine Mattingly who was praised for her natural ability and nuanced performances on the theme of Other Worlds and Hikaru Wakatsuki-hobbs who amused and entertained the audience in his pieces about The Relationship Between Humans and Animals.
Freyja Stewart-cox won the senior trophy with her exploration of Loss. She gave a powerful, controlled performance as Antigone, followed by Rory in a contrasting monologue from Tatty Hennessey’s A Hundred Words for Snow. In this speech, there is a tight balance between comedy and tragedy which Freyja handled skilfully and earned praise from adjudicator Jean-marc Perret for her “good emotional crossovers”.
There were compelling performances from the two senior runners-up: Katherine Hulin on the theme of Betrayal and Lola Rayner who explored Power.
The winners’ trophies, certificates and cash prizes for all were presented by the Deputy Mayor of Bath Cllr Dr Bharat Pankhania who commented on the high standard of all the performances.
The 122 year-old Mid-somerset Festival is in desperate need of volunteers. To become involved, contact festival chair Lynne Barnes at lynne@midsomersetfestival.org.
The next festival will take place in March 2024. For information, go to: midsomersetfestival.org.