Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

The Watlington Players’ last youth production ‘The Little Mermaid’ walked away with NODA 4 North’s Best Youth Production Award with Kia Long also taking the area’s Best Youth Performer for Ariel, and Rizzo in Grease. My good friend, Tom Watson, had reviewed ‘The Little Mermaid’ and had marvelled at how far this relatively new youth group had come in the last three years. As I took my seat for the Sunday matinée performance of Joseph … I could not have been more excited.
The story really needs no retelling and is based on an extract from a well-respected book that has been given the Tim Rice and Andrew (The Lord) Lloyd Webber treatment. Cyril Pike had worked his own brand of magic on Watlington Village Hall with large cut-outs of Joseph around the place and messages from cast members fixed to the back of every seat. Mr Pike was on duty as usual with Megan Abbott distributing tickets. This fine establishment really knows how to roll out the welcome Matt (that’s Chairman Kerslake, and he was there too!)
The set (uncredited) was a large, beautifully painted desert backdrop with a few rostra and sundry embellishments and, to be frank, that was all that was needed. Costumes (Eileen Cooke) were plentiful and all of a high standard with a special mention for the goat & camel outfits that impressed me greatly. Make-up (Jenny Lewis) was everything that you would want, and incidental props (uncredited) did all that they needed to. No mention in the programme for poor Barry Ayres who seemed to be on sound and light as usual ….. and, if it was you Barry, it all looked good to me!
The Watlington Young Players really is a large concern and the cast on this production was vast. In fact, far too many for me to mention them all, but the chorus members were all very focussed and moved around the stage quickly and efficiency with the feel of a well drilled unit. The choreography was well considered with the biggest and best moves reserved for the troop of six dancers who were all extremely capable and very watchable. There were no weak links but Rebecca Field did stand out for me.
In the supporting roles I was blown away by Jacob Elliot as … Jacob! who had next to no lines but just acted his socks off from start to finish. In a similar vein, Dean Wallace made a wonderful job of the goat and Cerys Brooks was top notch as the Butler, combining an excellent singing voice with a relaxed acting style.
Another young man on top of his game was Dominic King as Reuben, who delivered my favourite song (Canaan Days) with some considerable style. Philly MacFarlane has grown up so quickly I couldn’t believe it and she added an excellent characterisation as Potiphar’s Wife to her other duties as part of the dance troop. Last in this paragraph (but by no means least) Abbey Harvey as Pharaoh. excellent !
Well worthy of a paragraph of their own were the six narrators. You will recall that the narrative is sung throughout this title and the lines had been cleverly spread amongst the six so all had some to do … and more importantly they all had lines they could deliver well. Special mention for Ellie Fradley who seemed to have the most and to Kia Long who had all the difficult ones. Both ladies have excellent singing voices and did a first rate job as the backbone of all their songs. That is in no way to diminish the achievements of all the others!
It is extremely important for me to say that everyone in this truly inclusive group worked extremely hard in and around this production, so, if I didn’t mention you by name, please … please don’t think for a moment that your were somehow inferior. I have highlighted a few of the outstanding contributors, but it was a total team effort that made this show such a triumph.
Penultimate paragraph honours were never in any doubt .. not from the first time Ethan Robinson opened his mouth. It always seems lazy to single out the lead for a special mention but, not only did Mr Robinson have a divine singing voice that was perfectly suited to the backing tracks supplied, but he brought along a great interpretation and an expert comic timing that fitted well with his charismatic stage presence and complete confidence in his lines and moves. It really was a spectacular piece of all-round performing.
My sincere congratulations to that very nice Debbie Bennett for a remarkable production. This piece is difficult to direct because of the operatic style and the small or non-existent gaps between songs. Someone else who had been there for this performance thought it was a bit “square on” … and it was … but I would say that every time I have seen it.. that’s the way it is and I am not sure it was a problem and it hadn’t even occurred to me before it was mentioned. I liked the way it was presented…. actually I liked everything about it!

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