Once Upon A Dream

I witnessed a man and his wife arguing about who gets control of the TV remote! You may think that this is a regular occurrence in most households, but this was just the beginning of an evening’s entertainment by the talented youth group, Spotlight.

Based on the Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where fairies fall in love with mortals and numerous weddings to plan, the company entertained from start to finish.

Ben Coleman, as Punk, had the unenviable job of warming up the audience and setting the scene for what was to come. The cast was divided into three groups, The Fairies, led by the King (Zach Andrews) and Queen (Emily Hardy), the Royals, with princesses Faith, Hope and Charity, played by Lottie Carter, Ellie Coleman and Sadie Groves respectively, and The Band, with lead singer John (Jake Silvester) and guitarist Bottom (Alfie Stokes) taking the lead.

All principals stayed in character throughout and gave strong performances, displaying a great deal of confidence, I particularly enjoyed the transformation of Bottom into Elvis!

A special mention must go to Becky Cartwright for her portrayal of (Stupid) Cupid, keeping the audience amused with her comedic timing and interactions with other characters.

I must give praise to the choreography team for their effective dance routines which were ably delivered by principals and chorus alike, this truly reflected the amount of time which must have been spent perfecting them. Likewise, to Ian Windsor for the musical direction, there was some very effective harmony singing, particularly for such a young group, all accompanied by very proficient musicians. One thing I would say, is that when principals are mic’d up and singing with the chorus, care needs to be taken with the balance between melody and harmonies as at times the melody was lost. The scenery was also very effective, the lighting of the trees was truly magical.

There is no doubt that this was a well-directed show, with everyone knowing what they were doing at exactly the right time, and all delivered with such enthusiasm. Congratulations must go to everyone involved in the production. The future is bright for local theatre groups in this area if these youngsters continue to perform in years to come.

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