Magic Mash

It’s always a joy to come and see Deben Player’s Junior shows and this one was no exception.  This year there is cast of 20 young people all aged between 7 and 16 years. Sam Harvey had written the script especially for them and it was a very innovative idea of mixing up the characters from lots of fairy tales.

Firstly we meet the three workers at the FMCA (Fairy and Magical Creatures Agency) as they are taking calls  to hire out actors  who  are magical creatures including Fairies and Witches. However one of the call agents Nighty (Lilly-Rei Pope)  decides to be really mischievous and mix up all the characters, so Captain Hook ends up at in the Rapunzel story etc.  Eventually the other two, Dreamy (Caera Quigley) and Rexel (India Gupta),  realise what is happening and have to try to sort out the muddle. These three older girls are very confident and come across as very efficient call handlers.

These young actors are split into groups and all have featured songs to sing while the rest are included as backing singers and dancers.  We meet Peter Pan & the lost boys, Captain Hook, Tinkerbelle & Crocodile, Rapunzel,  Sleeping Beauty & The Prince.  Also the characters from Cinderella, including Cinders, The Fairy Godmother, the 2 Stepsisters and Stepmother. Last but not least Gothal the Sorceress and 4 delightful little Fairies.   

This young and talented cast are amazing, with unrelenting enthusiasm. They sang, danced and acted their roles confidently with the whole cast injecting life and energy into their performances. Some of the songs might have been a bit flat, but hey what does that matter when they were having so much fun  and at the same time gaining that all important confidence. For some it was their first step, they turned up nervous and not wanting to have any lines but as time progressed they found that this was really enjoyable and were excited to say a few lines.

The costumes all looked fabulous and certainly helped them get into character. All the cast were mic’d up which again was excellent so we could hear even the quietest of the young performers. The simple draped backcloth was effectively lit to change the atmosphere of the scenes.

All credit due to the Creative Team for including all those that came forward no matter what their capabilities as they helped and encouraged their cast. I’m sure all these young people will leave this show with lots of happy memories of working together, in team building and making new friends. The confidence they gain taking them forward in whatever path they take and hopefully it will inspired them to do more in amateur theatre.

After last year’s very successful raffle and donation to the “Save Ugendas Pangolins”  the children  wanted to do the same again this year. They raised another brilliant  amount of over £500 (and still counting) from the proceeds of the raffle and refreshments.  Well done to you all.

Thank you to all the team at Deben Players for your very kind hospitality and for what was  truly a most enjoyable and uplifting show.

Catherine Dixey. NODA East Representative District E12

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