Do you prefer live entertainment or watching the box for your Saturday night entertainment? I have just looked at the TV programmes showing on Saturday night. “Who wants to be a millionai re?” “The X Factor”, “Strictly Come Dancing”.

I and about 20 others chose to go to St. Albans Hall to see some of our junior members perform three excerpts they had worked up from scratch between 3pm and curtain up. And it was a good decision. I did not have to phone a friend, decide which of the singers was the least appalling, or watch Brucie dribble.

In the first excerpt from Twelfth Night, director Mary Musker chose two scenes in which the disguised Viola carried messages first to Olivia and then to Orsino. Tamar Witztum played the messenger with Zoe Hazan as Olivia and both showed a remarkable and mature understanding of the text. Zoe gave an appropriately contrasting performance which showed the flirtatious and petty sides of the character despite being hidden behind a veil for much of the scene. Aubrey Allegretti as Orsino was remarkable not only for his vocal projection but also for his ability to stand still. In so doing he commanded the stage. All three demonstrated an ability to speak verse from which some of our adult members could learn a thing or two. Mary’s direction was sure and focused and she produced a very watchable performance in less than four hours.

Andrew Craze directed the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet with two of our more experienced (or so it seemed to me) teenagers. My apologies if I got that

wrong. Matt Ali, performing much of the scene from the floor of the hall and often with his back to the audience, conveyed the lust, angst and impatience of first love. He had a good grasp of the verse and spoke clearly without losing the passion and pace of the scene. The interpretation was, perhaps, more Baz Lurhman than Olivier, but that is not a criticism. In some ways it seemed more relevant to today. Naomi Beckett as Juliet was winsome and spoke clearly but she did not seem quite as ardent as her would-be lover. Without the real interruptions of an offstage Nurse, she had nothing to bounce off and that was a pity. Being torn between duty and desire is very important in that scene and she was not able to show her frustration to the full. But in the short time available for the workshop these are minor criticisms and I would like to see Andrew direct a full–length show for us. He has talent aplenty and enthusiasm to match.

In the final excerpt directed by Francis Beckett we saw the opening scene from Noises Off by Michael Frayn. Anyone who has seen this hilarious farce, will know how difficult it is to do as a production with all the necessary handling and mishandling of props and the speed and variety of exits and entrances. The speed of handling and pace of movement are essential rudiments of farce. Trying to do it as a play -reading in one afternoon of rehearsal was ambitious to say the least. Raquel Larnyon playing Mrs. Clackett the housemaid, dealt with the vagaries of handling a telephone and a plate of sardine sandwiches while holding a book, with commendable fortitude and she has an obvious sense of comic timing. Christopher Ali playing Roger was suitably suave as the lecherous man out for a quickie with the “dumb blonde” Vicki. Andrea Pierides played the innocent girl very well and I liked her wide-eyed innocent looks. Keeping an increasingly frustrated eye on the proceedings was the long-suffering director, Lloyd played by one of our most exposed young actors of the year - Alon Witztum. He is developing well as an actor and I think this is the first time I have seen him in a comic role. I liked the ambitious idea but clearly more time was needed to give the excerpt some pace. And I don’t think the addition of the characters CV’ added anything to the piece. But the whole cast deserves congratulations on attempting something so intrinsically difficult, I for one wouldn’t attempt it!

It was a very entertaining and well thought through evening and I am sorry for our young thespian colleagues that it wasn’t better attended. We should do more of these evenings – and we should be more supportive of our future adult members. It was a very good night out. And you could still have been back to watch “Match of the Day” or “Parkinson” and of course there is the video recorder!

 

Terry Rogers