A wonderful weekend of theatre
The plays, over three nights, in order of performance were:
Frankenstein Slept Here
Performed by a 12-strong cast of talented youngsters of Lamlash Junior Drama Club, this play is set in the present day in Castle Frankenstein where a host of ghastly and ghoulish characters live, apparently on borrowed time.
The adjudicator, Nat Little, was full of praise for the production which he said was ‘exceptional’. He said the lead actor Baroness Frankenstein, played by Shannon Galbraith, was the ‘rock of this play’ and said Vampira, Zara Wilson, was ‘absolutely fabulous’. He also had high praise for newly-weds Pauline (Ciara Wood) and Ted (Luke Wilson) who the audience had taken to their hearts and whom he described as ‘wee sweethearts’. He added the costumes were great and the make-up good.
Poison
Performed as a stark double header, this play was a triumph for Dave Simpkin, as Archie, and Andy McNamara, as Dennis, of Whiting Bay Music and Drama Club. Set in a dingy flat in the present day, it is a dark comedy drama. The adjudicator said: ‘This was fabulous from start to finish, a tremendous performance.’
The set, which had both an exterior and interior, made for a very good stage presentation, Mr Little said, and he described the fight scene as ‘very realistic’. He added the death scene at the end was always hard to do but said Archie had ‘brought it off’.
Summing up he said: ‘These two were absolutely brilliant and I congratulate you on a superb performance.’
Jilted Lovers Helpline
This comedy was the offering of Shiskine SWI and was the second double header of the night starring Ruth Betley, as Mary, and Faye Hamill, as Jasmine, as receptionists at a helpline, not surprisingly, for jilted lovers.
The two spend almost the entire play at one end of a series of increasingly bizarre telephone conversations. Mr Little said it was a difficult play to stage but said it had been ‘edited beautifully’ by the producer, Jerry Arthur
He said the play was nicely paced and there were good costumes. He said Ruth, as Mary, was the quieter and more naive and kept in character from start to finish.
He said Fay was a ‘comedy supremo’ and her delivery of her lines was ‘absolutely fabulous’.
The Little Foundling
This comedy by Shiskine Junior Drama Club, was a well performed and witty offering using the confident acting abilities of James Smith playing the father, Katie Murchie playing the daughter and Rachel Brown accurately portraying the mother. Convincing performances of a woodcutter, squire and an ailing woman played by Innis Thorborn, Roray Morrison and Ellie Ewing respectively received praise from the adjudicator who applauded the club for taking on such a challenging play.
Special praise was given to James Smith who was described as ‘Mr Personality’ and a great expressionalist along with Katie Murchie who was said to be an expert at the throw away line and for her use of pause for comedic effect. He said that all in all, it was a humorous, well acted play with strong characters and the expert-use of amusing word-play and confident acting abilities.
A Nice Cup Of Tea
A comedic offering set in the present day saw two accomplished actors, Val Waite and Dave Simpkin of the Whiting Bay Music & Drama group perform an amusing take on modern day health and safety culture.
This delightful modern day kitchen comedy featured good humour, sarcasm and good expression by both actors with a special mention going to Val who played Marion and who excelled at telling a complete story with her facial expressions alone.
Harold played by Dave worked in perfect synergy with Val and together the performance was described by the adjudicator as: ‘A wonderful play, well performed and with an elaborate and perfect use of the set and costumes, particularly Marion’s boot. The accomplished and humorous performance was enjoyed by the audience who related to the subject matter very well.
Present Slaughter
The period comedy set in the 1930s and taking place on an elaborately designed set depicting a luxury hotel terrace was very well received by the audience. The adjudicator was generous in his praise of the costumes, cast and performance of this runner up to the winning play. The beautifully researched nostalgic period piece saw the acting talents of Colin MacDonald and Jill McKillop being described as professional and superb by the adjudicator.
Unusually the performance included live music played by James O’Neil who, while providing the piano accompaniment, also provided a huge amount of laughs for his acting abilities in portraying a clumsy pianist. Colin was praised for his ad libbing when he expertly dealt with a minor set malfunction and included it into his repertoire.
Home At Last
Three teenage boys dressed as women was the main comedy element to Shiskine Junior Drama is production of Home At Last set in a castle somewhere in Transylvania in the present time.
And as the adjudicator remarked ‘the boys were great’. The ‘women’ are from a coach party who find themselves stranded at the castle of Countess Draculana, played by Alice Kinniburgh, and her servant Vampyra, played by Amelia Robertson, who Mr Little said was ‘exceptionally good’.
He said the supporting cast were ‘sinister little madams’ and said that the production was good and the costumes were fabulous.
He added that the play had a fantastic ending when Mrs Adams, excellently played by Rory Morrison, is revealed as a werewolf. Mr Little said it was a wonderful play with a super cast.
Checking Out
The final play on Saturday night was the drama Checking Out by Shiskine Drama Club. Sheila Gilmore, as mum Sandra, took the lead role, ably assisted by Deborah Robertson as her daughter Kerry-Ann.
The adjudicator’s first comment was: ‘What a lovely play to end any festival.’
The play is set in a stark flat with just the two performers, but Mr Little was full of praise describing Sheila as ‘a wonderful actress’ and said Deborah, in her support, was an ‘excellent actress in her own right’.
Mr Little said the play could have been performed on the radio as the actors had lifted the play by their voices alone and he said he applauded that.
‘This was a wonderful performance,’ he said.