Our House

 

Splinters Theatre group started in 1989 with the ethos of encouraging performers between the ages of 14 to 30 not only on stage but involved backstage also. In their words “run by young people for young people “ .This has continued very successfully through the years. 

The production team of James and Kate Parkin along with Katie Granger and Dominic Ridler must be delighted with the results the cast have achieved. A production full of excellent singing, high quality acting along with beautiful choreography all adding up to an enthralling evening of quality theatre.  The set was well thought out depicting the terrace houses of the time , along with entrances stage left and right . The balcony was used to cleverly portray the deceased Dad of Joe along with occasional poignant scenes with Joe and Sarah and moments featuring Mr Pressman. Our House is a story centered around Joe Casey , a 16 year old caught having broken in to a building with his new girlfriend Sarah , it is there the split character begins, the dark ,high risk illegal businessman, or the poor but honest young man with admirable principles. The lighting by ,Tom Dyson ,was excellent giving atmosphere to the many scenes along with the multi-talented orchestra. John Crowther gave a powerful performance as the deceased father of Joe, a part requiring discipline as through most of the production he has no interaction with cast members,  but continually feeds poignant words of advice to his son encouraging him to not live like he did, word and song delivered to the highest order. Leah Rhodes -Burch as Kath , Joes mother, played the part showing all the emotions of being left behind, trying to do right by her family whilst consciously seeing the good and bad of Joe.

Ben Rossiter as Emmo and Lewis Spowage as Lewis worked well together delivering clear singing and speech, with many truly comical scenes , being friends with the good Joe, whilst acting as the go betweens under the spell of Reecey,The scenes as chauffeurs were hilarious mixed with acting out of the song , My Girl, with Joe , very memorable.  Mr Pressman by Richard Granger, a strong performance depicting all the nasty characteristics of his part with a no-nonsense attitude born out of greed and financial gain, along with managing three other roles including a very cleverly performed moment dressed as the dog when turning to the audience with a total look of horror.

Lily Grayson as Billie along with Maeve Hughes as Angie , what a great team you made , feeding off each other throughout, so many memorable scenes ,with excellent accented speech ,movement and acting. Arthur Woodward as Callum well performed and clearly delivered , with many scenes with both the good and bad Joe, along with undertaking three other cameo roles.. Dan Rossiter as Reecey the hard hitting un caring villain of the show. Excellent singing, well delivered powerful lines and maintained the hard faced character throughout. You fronted the Baggy Trousers number with poise and composure along with many others you were involved in .

Josh Fishburn as Joe Casey along with Jessica Smith as Sarah , you both should be immensely proud of your performances. Both very intensive roles to play, Joe continuously switching from good boy to bad boy and Sarah dealing with being pulled in both directions never quite knowing whether good would overcome evil. The stage presence, acting and singing from you both was a privilege to see and hear. N.W.5 performed by Sarah and Rise and fall by Joe, two beautiful solos along with your joint involvement in many others Driving in my car and It must be love to name but two. There were memorable cameo roles played by Christina, Emily, Jack, Lauren, Wednesday, Cerys and Ruby and previously mentioned Arthur and Richard. I enjoyed the whole production so well done to you all.

The remaining ensemble whilst not individually named are no less important all performing really well. 

The costumes depicted the piece well and the use of very few props provided space for the many cleverly devised chorus and full group numbers. I was delighted to see everyone staying in character and clearly enjoying the many memorable Madness songs. Great singing and movement, well done. Compliments to the back stage team who seamlessly altered the stage and to Joes dressers, not an easy task with so many, extremely quick changes. 

Regrettably the sound balance spoilt some of the tender quietly spoken sections as the actors couldn’t be heard clearly, hopefully this will improve. 

Well done to everyone involved, on stage off stage , front of house and the many other unsung roles.

Thank you for your hospitality and a most enjoyable evening of quality theatre. Wishing you all success with the remainder of the run

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