Lisa Chapman reports
Tonight, for the final night’s offering of three one act plays and presentation of awards, it was a pleasure to see the Thameside Theatre fully patronised for the only time this week even though the audience were mainly drama groups who had performed the previous evenings hoping for some recognition of their hard work.
The first play of the evening was Young Rods “The Canterville Ghost” which tells the tale of the Otis family and their dealings with the ghost as he attempts to frighten them away from their new residence. The title sequence was promising with the young girl running through the ghostly figures building up a frightening atmosphere. There were some very clever scenes like using the parasols to become the wheels of a carriage when the family travelled to their new home and the use puppets throughout the play. I would have found it more interesting to see more use of scenery in this production and I also think this would have helped the actors to feel more at home with their characters and interact more. It was a good story but lacked pace in places although the story was easy to follow.
Next on the menu was Lightnin Drama Group’s “The Diary”. Well, what can I say? The only word that comes to mind is WOW! This was a very tricky story about a young girl who has contracted AIDs due to one night of passion as told through her diary which was portrayed as a character. It had me hooked from start to finish. It was a powerful, moving and technically challenging play and all aspects were handled beautifully by the accomplished young cast. Subjects such as peer pressure, unprotected sex and death were covered very cleverly. It was a very disturbing piece of theatre but was lifted at the right moments with humour. It came as no surprise therefore that this play swept the boards later on and went on to win the best one act play.
Last but not least was Pier Players and “Deliver Us Not (or, Birth Where is thy Sting)”. This was a comedy about three foetuses on the brink of being born and their thoughts about “life after birth”. The three cast members worked well together and were believable as their characters. The set was simple but effective with everything being pink including their costumes. How they managed to get through this without tripping over their umbilical cords I do not know but there were some really amusing moments in this play and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Awards
Full Length
Winner Moonshine – The Bovingdon Players
Runner Up Burn This – Bejou Productions
Actor David Streames – “Pale” – Burn This
Actress Joanna Masters – “Anna” – Burn This
One Act
Winner The Diary – Lightnin Drama Group
Runner Up Collection Point ‘B’ – Blitzed Theatre Company
Actor Neil Gray – “He” – Collection Point ‘B’
Actress Emily Catlin – “She” – Collection Point ‘B’
film to follow
