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DRAMA
Oliver (December 2007)
Alway production of "Bugsy Malone" (June 2007)
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Alway delighted their audience with
the story of splurge-gun toting gangsters, show
girls and dreamers. Set in New York in the
1920s, Fat Sam and Dandy Dan battled for control
instructing their respective hoodlums to wipe out
the opposition by using custard pies (not machine
guns).
Main characters were:
Bugsy -Andrew Shough, Blousey Brown - Beatrice Wigmore,
Dandy Dan - Matthew Halligan, Fat Sam - James Sweeney,
Taluulah - Honor Bevan, Fizzy - Ellie Davies, Cagey Joe - Tom Trumper,
Leroy - George Eddison, O'Dreary - Davy Jones and Captain Smolsky -
James Amphlett |
Alway Musical "Dear Edwina" (June 2006)
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 It
is a beautiful summer’s day in Paw Paw Michigan, and all the
neighbourhood kids are on their way to Edwina Spoonapple’s house
to perform today’s episode of the advice giving show ‘Dear
Edwina’.
Today Edwina is especially excited as the
talent scout from the Katamazoo Advice – a Palooza Festival (the
biggest advice giving convention every!) will see the show.
It all goes well. The ‘Dear Edwina’ show may be offered a
position in the festival.
Today’s show is full of letters about …..
brothers and sisters, setting the table, saving money, manners
and an unexpected cry of true love from swooning Scott.
But not before one of the cast members literally ‘breaks a leg’
and calls upon the ‘new kid on the block – Bobby’ to fill their
place. Bobby surprisingly gains more than she bargains
for, as Edwina, crestfallenly explains herself in ‘up on the
fridge……. |
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School Musical "Grease" (2-4 December 2005)
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Director Mrs A Fraser can be confident that
this professional performance gave students
an experience they will never forget -
particularly the all-cast song and dance
routines - which were colourful and
uplifting. Full marks, too, for the
authentic costumes and inventive set
designs.
John Travolta and Olivia John will never
look the same.
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With all the exuberance of a 1950s
high school hop, Christ College's production of
"Grease" burst onto stage to rave reviews from
parents, teachers and pupils.
As slick-haired
gang leader Danny, David Morrell
convincingly snaked-hipped his way around the stage,
while Sandra Dee, played by Cath Jones, was suitably
prissy and pristine and the entire cast shimmered
with pent-up teenage angst. Cath's raunchy
transformation was both believable and
breath-taking.
Surely a rising star must be Angharad Lewis who gave
a mature performance as the gutsy Rizzo - her
heart-rendering solo gave this reviewer goose bumps,
with her passionate rendition of "There Are Worse
Things I Could Do".
Megan Dorward was suitably bossy as teacher Miss
Lynch while comic performances from the rest of the
cast ensured that this pastiche of 1950s adolescent
America was memorable from start to finish.
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Alway Play-
"Dazzle"
The
Alway production this year took place on 25-26 June 2005 and was set on
the spaceship Sunburster One with Captain Sam Galactic and his
international crew of intrepid explorers. The audience were
transported to a fantastical world populated by creatures ranging from
an all female communist species known as Bloshies to Hells Angels
look-alikes called Greasers and Greaerettes and a rather grim bunch of
space pirates called Slimeys.
The set and
costumes were imaginative and eye-catching with plenty of sparkle and
colour to bring the inter-gala ctic
worlds to life and the young cast tackled their
roles with enthusiasm and energy impressively meeting the demands of
acting, singing and dancing throughout. In the central roles
Daniel Smith as Captain Sam Galactic and Jessica Tait as Dazzle Star
showed confidence and a flair of comic timing and an eclectic mix of
secondary characters, including the spaceship's fairly incompetent
medical and engineering staff, provided
an amusing backdrop to their burgeoning romance.
Click on images below to
enlarge
Oh What a Lovely War! (2005)
 We have come to expect school plays of
exceptional quality from Christ College but even by
these high standards this year's production of Joan
Littlewood's revue "Oh What a Lovely War!" was
something special. All the elements of recent
school productions were there in abundance: energy,
confidence, stage presence and find singing.
This time the talented ensemble had pace and timing
and the piece's more reflective moments carried a
powerful poignancy.
Amanda
Frazer created some strong images on the stage and
the lighting team backed this up with a professional
performance. A strong chorus sang lustily but
a core of ten actors sustained the action of the
play, changing roles, accents and costumes with a
slickness that must have taken long hours of
rehearsal to perfect. Master of Ceremonies
David Morrell held the scenes together before
re-emerging as a soldier, general or
politician. Ed Rees, Jon Wells, Caitlin
Widdows and Mary Johnson were particularly
versatile. These five performers were all
making their final appearance after seven
consecutive annual school productions. Ed
and John were outstanding as French and German
generals and Caitlin and Mary excelled in the
musical numbers. Rachel Williams, Ore
George-Taylor, Matthew Barnes and Heather Wallace
all made powerful contributions in their individual
scenes and in Clare Collins' dance numbers. As
in the last few years Harry Keyworth bore a
substantial responsibility for the show's quality.
Although very much a member of the company Harry's
performance of Haig, snobbish, bombastic, ludicrous
and chillingly detached from reality delivered the
play's message most tellingly.
 Added
pathos came from the participation of two German
students. Playing a range of parts in German
and English Arne Tiddens and Gwendolyn Duenner
fitted imperceptibly into the cast, leaving one to
reflect on the futility of past differences and hope
that, at least in Europe, the lessons of history and
Littlewood's campaigning theatre have been learned.
Teechers (March 2004)
This AS Drama production saw three students
Harry Keyworth, Tiggy Quirini and Emily Evans
perform John Godber's Teechers.
The play follows the fortunes of a fledgling drama
teacher at a British comprehensive school as seen by
three of his pupils. A minimalist script and set
necessitated hard-working performances from the
three actors who rose to the task, seamlessly moving
between several characters using only accents and
mannerisms, without the luxury of costume changes.
Honk (June 2004 - Junior House)
 Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale
was transformed into a modern musical comedy
for all the family. When Ugly hatched under the
adoring gaze of his proud mum, his musical
adventures began. The show was full of charm,
witty
lyrics, catchy songs, really bad puns and a
cast of
ducks, geese, turkeys, bullfrogs and an
indefatigable cat. This Alway musical was an
imaginative and very colourful production, which
involved every member of the junior boarding house.
Annie Jr (June 2003 - Junior House)
The musical is about an eternally optimistic Annie who is
convinced that one day her parents will return and she'll be re-united
with them after 11 years. The orphanage is awful, run by the drink
sodden Miss Hannigan. Oliver Warbucks is a billionaire, who decides to
take in an orphan for Christmas - it's Annie.
All the restless energy
that is to be found in the junior house's inmates found an ideal outlet
in this production of the Broadway Junior version of Annie. A
simple but effective set, a band drawn up form the school's own Jazz
Band, and a host of technical helpers behind the scenes gave the young
and enthusiastic players all the support they needed as they wrung our
withers as orphans or strutted their stuff as New Yorkers from every
walk of life. Rachel Williams deserved particular praise in the
title role with her commanding presence and voice. This production
also raised £58 for a local Brecon charity - Whizz Kids. My Fair
Lady (December 2002)
The
story revolves around Eliza Doolittle, a coarse little peddler of
flowers in Covent Garden who agrees to take speech lessons from
phonetician Henry Higgins in order to fulfil her dream of working in a
flower shop. Eliza succeeds so well, however, that she outgrows her
social station and even manages to get Higgins to fall in love with her.
The band unobtrusively on stage throughout, provided sure support for
the cast, who rose enthusiastically to the challenge of singing as well
as acting, and the evening left all with many memorable pictures as we
made our way home humming the familiar songs to ourselves. This
production was a visual delight and an unqualified triumph for all
concerned. According to one seasoned watcher of school drama it
was the best such production she had ever.
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