Playing the Part

Can I take this opportunity to thank David Wall, Rebecca McDonald and St John Rigby College for inviting my wife and I to witness some of their amazingly talented BTEC Students performing a series of excerpts from different plays and productions.  We really enjoyed the experience and it is great to see so many young people enjoying and expressing themselves on stage.

The evening was divided into two acts.......
Act 1...
‘Blood Brothers’ by Willy Russell – performed by Beth Millington.  A good start to the evening; Beth had good diction and stayed in character throughout; a little quiet in places, would have liked a little more projection at times. ‘Fame the Musical’ by David De Silva – performed by Georgia Elstone and Grace McDivitt  A personal favourite from Act 1. Thought Georgia and Grace worked really well together. Again - good diction and good accents throughout.  The vocal was strong – can I suggest the following for improvement – if using accent in the dialogue / try putting the accent into song lyrics – it is difficult but enhances the performance. ‘Silence of the Lambs’ by Thomas Harris – performed by Aimee Pendlebury and Max Tomlinson.  Again good diction, good accents, good facial expressions, but again a little quiet in places! I would have liked a little more ‘light and shade’ from Max’s character. Aimee’s overall performance was good.  ‘Be more Chill’ music and lyrics by Joe Iconis – performed by Billy Malone and Monique Casey. Again the diction was good throughout, including the song.  Billy gave a solid performance and I do believe that Monique is better than what SHE thinks she is! Monique’s ‘big problem’ is ‘eye contact with the audience’ – spent most of the time looking down towards the floor,  but as soon as she lifted her head...you saw her eyes and she came to life....be confident... it is all there!  ‘Teechers’ by John Godber – performed by Alice Chivers.  Accent and diction were good. Again a little quiet in places... perhaps a little more confidence in ability is needed – and again I do think it is all there!  ‘Two’ by Jim Cartwright – performed by Nathan Massam and Lauren Herbert   Both looked comfortable and gave us two good characters; diction could have been slightly better as could the volume... very quiet in places.  ‘Hello Goodbye’ by Gabriel Davis – performed by Eve Wagstaff  A great performance to end Act 1 from Eve.  Possibly my favourite performance from Act 1 – great diction, good characterisation, great facial expressions, eye contact throughout with good mannerisms...kept me interested until the end... be proud!

Act 2...
‘One man two Guvnors’ by Richard Bean – performed by Natham Massam   Nothing quiet about Nathan’s performance to open Act 2.  I can only describe it as ‘total commitment’ from start to finish ... good accent!  ‘Teechers’ by John Godber - performed by Eve Wagstaff and Beth Millington ‘Show Stopper’ for me! Had everything, great diction, spot on comedy timing, good movement, girls never came out of character – a real balanced performance - again kept me interested throughout. Just one thing – ‘don’t ever ask if you can decorate my Christmas Tree’!  ‘Smoke Scene’ by Nick Zagone – performed by Monique Casey and Billy Malone Monique and Billy worked well together; good accents and good diction.  Again Monique’s ‘eye contact’ was an issue, but not as much as in Act 1. Overall – thought it was a good performance – just felt it was a little too long  ‘Turkey Day’ by Gabriel Davies – performed by Alice Chivers Again another good performance from Alice. Diction was again good – could have just done with a little ‘light and shade’ – something to work on  ‘Find Me’ by Owlen Wymark – performed by Georgia Elstone  ‘Show Stealer’ for me!  This piece had everything – diction was excellent, performance was totally believable, had ‘light and shade’ aplenty, emotive, had me engaged from first word to last... congrats Georgia be ever so proud!  ‘Inglorious Bastards’ by Quentin Tarantino – performed by Max Tomlinson and Billy Malone  The diction  from the lads was good, but if I’m honest, it felt a little safe and it just lacked the emotion needed to make the piece work...sorry!  ‘On Tuesday’ by Jennie Webb – performed by Rebecca Fairhurst, Lydia Heaton and Grace McDivitt  Again, if I’m honest - I found this piece a little hard to follow, but having said that, the diction was good, again required a little more volume in places.  The telephone call about the death – didn’t hear it at all, so we lost the plot just a little (nothing to do with actors).  ‘La La Land’ by Damien Chazelle – performed by Nathan Massam, Eve Wagstaff and Beth Millington  Last but not least – again the group worked well together...good diction but again we had a few quiet moments.  A good performance to finish off a great night

So, if I may be so bold as to offer a ‘wee bit’ of ‘constructive criticism’ - or at least things to work on.....

‘Spoken Word’ - Never forget that the audience need to hear everything you say.
                          The ‘diction’ for the most part was really good...but keep that volume up and try and project
‘Spoken Word’ - It’s wonderful knowing your lines – but just saying them without ‘light and shade’ will never work. 
                           Emotion / Accentuation is vital for dialogue to come alive
‘Accents’           -The use of 'accents' is important in theatre, but when using them, ensure that they are used throughout
                           your performance and if you sing...try and put the accent into the lyrics...it isn’t easy – but if you
                           can achieve it - it does enhance the performance!
‘Eye Contact’    - Vital!   The saying ‘The eyes are the window to the soul’ – is so ‘true’. When you look into
                            someone’s eyes you should be able to tell what a person is thinking or what they are feeling...
                            so if you can’t see them or they are hidden - you lose so much!  The ‘eye’s definitely have it’

What I found really useful and helped explain what was happening during each performance, was the use of a ‘projected explanation’ – it helped greatly and I believe thanks and congrats for that, the lights and the sound should go to Joshua Duffy who did a great job.

Once again ...thank you so much for inviting my wife and I and for your welcome and hospitality... we both enjoyed the performances and look forward to your next production.

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