Oliver

This society has come a very long way since its conception 40 years ago of providing Drama facilities for a Bradford Youth Club, and a full production of a well known and loved stage show, in completely new surroundings, was a very brave move for the organizers of this ambitious and very capable group of young people. 

The tiered staging was very effective but seemed rather cramped for the number of people involved, there was practically no scenery, the lighting was very basic and the sound system caused great problems with uneven sound and a number of squeaks and loud squawks throughout the evening BUT, that did nothing to hinder the production or faze the confidence of the young actors on stage who continued to dance, act and sing with a competence that belied their years; nor did it do anything to mar the enjoyment of the large and very appreciative audience.

There are a quite a number of supporting roles in Oliver and all of these were well cast and excellently played, especially Mr Bumble (Chris Hyland), Widow Comey (Jenny Lee) and Mr & Mrs Sowerberry (Joe Hadley & Jess Spafford) and it was good to see these young people taking a part in the chorus when their character was not involved.  Undoubtedly the ‘stars’ of the show were the lead parts of the Artful Dodger (Oliver Pinder), Nancy, beautifully sung and portrayed by Emily McCormack, Oliver Twist (Joey Wilbey) in his first ever show and a first rate portrayal of Fagin by Jonnie Taylor – his excellent rendition of ‘Reviewing the Situation’ received the loud applause it deserved and many shouts of congratulatory approval.

As always with BYP, this show was well sung, had excellent and sensitive accompaniment from the orchestra, simple and effective choreography, on the whole good costuming and here comes my only real criticism - that one young lady had been expected to dance in a very pretty but tight skirted costume and two others in the chorus were wearing nail varnish and showing tattoos - a real no no for most productions in amateur theatre!!!!  Please disguise them in future.

This should not perhaps be considered in the review of a show but I was very heartened to read, in the programme, all the short biographies of the cast, whose ages ranged from 6 years old upwards, and almost everyone said how much they enjoyed being a part of the Society, how many friends they had made, how much they had learned and enjoyed being part of the production.  That is what joining an Amateur Dramatic or Operatic Society is all about. 

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