Drama school brothers scoop clutch of prizes at contest
TWO budding young actors from a Macclesfield drama school beat off scores of competitors to win TEN first prizes between them at a drama contest.
Brothers Joss AbbsBrown, 11, and Isaac Abbs-Brown, 14, who attend Gillian Twigg’s Drama School at Teggsnose Farm, won all of the classes they competed in, five each, at the Buxton Drama Festival and were invited to perform at the winner’s concert.
Joss, a student at St Albans Primary School in Macclesfield, scooped two silver trophies at the concert, held at Buxton Methodist Church, and was heralded as the overall winner in drama and music for his reading of a piece from Ian Ogilvy’s children’s book, ‘Measle and the Slithergoul’. The Slithergoul is a blob of slime which breaks out of its prison, slurping up everything in its path and targeting small boy Measle Stubbs.
Joss’ older brother Isaac, 14, wowed the audience with his performance of ‘Full Filling Feeling’ by Christopher Tunstall, a monologue about a visit to the dentist and was also presented with a silver trophy. At the festival, which preceded the concert, Joss performed two poems, ‘I Opened A Book’, by Julia Donaldson and ‘Lullaby’, by Adrian Henry, also performing an unseen passage. Isaac entertained festival-goers with a reading from JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit and two poems, ‘After We’ve Gone’ by Fran Landesman and ‘The Sound Collector’ by Roger McGough. Both boys also read from the St James’ Bible. Gillian said: “Both brothers always work very hard, giving up their free time, and deserve all their success. It is a pleasure to teach them.” She added that both were now working towards higher exams.