Young actors shine in Junior Play double-bill
| Cranleigh is proud of its theatrical tradition: household names such as Michael Redgrave, who taught, acted and directed at the School, and world-renowned playwright Patrick Marber, who acted and directed while a pupil there, have been joined more recently by young playwrights like Al Smith and actors such as James Walters (‘Harry Potter’) and Georgina Moffat, who will record the second series of ‘Skins’ this summer. |
|
The annual summer Junior Plays give a chance for Cranleigh School audiences (in the Vivian Cox Theatre from May 21st to 24th) to spot stars of the future.
It was perhaps in the smaller cast of ‘Liar’ that potential stars could shine more brightly and no one impressed more than Morgan Fletcher, the male lead in Gregory Burke’s play about dedicated fibber Ronny. Morgan has the stage presence, the looks and the theatrical technique to make a name for himself. Another show-stopping performance came from Mike Mockford (and his hair) whose gift for comedy and timing also marked him out as one to watch. The trio was completed by Dan Dack as Beefy, a convincing ‘gangster’ and strong stage presence. |
|
|
Maddie Coe was well-cast as the female lead and helped ensure that the ending, where the boy finally gets the girl, was sweet rather than sentimental. Harri Gibson and Ellie Satterthwaite helped her make the bathroom scenes, with running gags and hard-to-learn repetitions, a real highlight of the play. Head of English, Paul Leggitt who directed with flair and imagination, commented: “Theses actors were great fun to work with and the production was really lifted by the use of projected video scenes which the pupils themselves filmed.” In these scenes many of the pupil actors may wish to remain anonymous but mention must be made of teachers Peter Maitland and Fergus Wilson as computer/chess geeks crying out for ‘more gigabytes’.
|
|
|
The other play ‘The Shoemaker’s Incredible Wife’ by Lorca was dominated by two excellent performances in the main roles by Vicky Hill and Nick Roberts. Vicky was terrifying at the start and paced her change to vulnerability with touching sincerity. Nick was perfect for the old hen-pecked shoemaker, as he gave genuine pathos to the role and yet was able to carry off the comic disguise with panache. Another star talent was seen in the cameo role of the old man Don Mirlo played with scene-stealing comedy by Sam Durant . On the First Night, History teacher and keen actor David Reffell noted that “Perhaps the most potential was seen in the opening Prologue, a monologue by ‘The Writer’ played by JJ Bee. Like a circus ring-master he lifted the performance from the first line”. This play was impressively directed by Sixth Formers Nick Pearce and Jerome Thompson with meticulous attention to detail, even the curtain call had been beautifully choreographed.
An expanded version of this review will appear in ‘The Cranleighan’.
|
Published
24 May 2007
- Category
Drama
Back