Flint Street Nativity

Flint Street Nativity - Poulton Drama

The idea of watching grown adults pretending to be 5 year olds may seem a little strange and it was - at first.  After about 15 mins you seem to forget that these actors are sensible, grown ups and you start to get carried away with their childish stances, young voices and ways of delivering their lines.  There was a good set and which was very effective throughout the performance with some great props, well done Steven Robinson-Wright and Bob Thompson for the set and Linda Hunter and Marie Cosgrove for the props.  The costumes were first class and really did help transport you the Flint Street Primary School, well done to Ruth Anderson and Jean Holloway for these.

The direction by Nigel Robinson-Wright was clear and he was able to bring out some great characters in this production, well done.  Ably assisted by Renee Ames in the role of Assistant Director.  It is difficult to get actors to be convincingly young and both Nigel and Renee have done a great job with helping the actors to access their inner child!

Anthony Henry, who played the Narrator in the nativity and a character called Tim, showed a great understanding of how children act and deliver their speech. His character was engaging and very believable.  The big character of Bradley, played well by Stuart Holden, was certainly an attention grabber in each scene and was bursting with energy.  The character of Mary, played by Victoria Gatenby, was delivered with great comic timing and Victoria’s character was really likeable.  There was a very convincing performance of a young boy portrayed by Paul Wood who played both Joseph and Herod in the nativity.  I was impressed with Paul’s performance of a cheeky young boy. Well done, Paul. Great character.  Claire Hull Naylor played the bully, Ashley, the girl that was “in charge” of the other kids and the one that continually convinced the girls to turn on each other by being “best friends” with different girls throughout.  Claire had some great facial expressions and her character was full of energy, good job.  Ruth Anderson delivered her script really well and with great timing as The Star and as the character Marcus.  Shamima was played by Beverley Thompson and constantly being befriended and dropped by Ashley.  You really felt for Shamima and the character was really believable.  Another performer that was constantly changing from victim to best friend was Lisa Holmes playing the character of Jess.  Lisa’s character was well delivered and engaging throughout.  I’d like to commend Sally Grey for playing the character of Amy, the little girl with a speech impediment.  This was very difficult to do convincingly but Sally nailed the frustration of her little character and her timing and projection of the script was executed beautifully, well done.  Pauline Hyland delivered the role of Zoe and the character was brimming with energy and the projection was clear and precise.  The other shepherd in the nativity was played by the character Tom (Ryan Townsley).  Ryan did well with his script in this performance and managed to project well through the theatre.  The ass in the nativity (Nathanial) was played by Daltrey Wrigley.  This was a tricky role with props and he did really well with the donkey head!  The lines that Daltrey delivered were performed with great comedy timing and his character was an audience favourite as the “naughty” lad.

Following the performance of these actors as little children they transform with in a few minutes to play the retrospective parents and I have to say that the cast did well to portray some lovely characterisations of the little ones in their parents but keep their characters completely new.  Good job to all involved and well done for their first play with music for the team at Poulton Drama.  All the singing was performed to Cath Stevenson who played the piano throughout the performance giving it a really convincing primary school nativity feel.

A special well done goes to the children of Sacred Heart Primary School for their fabulous artwork that was used as props and set for the show.

Well done Poulton Drama - I look forward to my next visit.

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