Rebel Girls

I was very warmly welcomed on my first visit to Keighley Youth Theatre (KYDS). It is of course, always a joy to see young people productively and creatively occupied and first of all, credit must be paid to the leaders of this group who generously give their time to keep this society vibrant and exciting for its young members.

The Artistic Director, David Knights, also writes material for the group and this ensures that there are a good range of parts to give all the young members a chance to shine. Rebel Girls was a very imaginative script, bringing together a group of remarkable women from across time to fight an evil sorceress. All these girls played excellent parts- Seraphim Weston as Boadicea, Ruby Richardson as Grace O’Malley, Maisy Harness as Scarlett (a present-day influencer) Holly Cornish as Emily Bronte and Alexia Zamba as Dora Thewliss, suffragette. They brought a range of experience to the stage but they certainly all gave confident performances with some strong singing, especially in Act 2. Some of the loudest voices though, came from the younger performers and Susannah Humpherson and Freya Thompson certainly showed us how it’s done.

There was some excellent backstage and technical support. Isla Wakely made the cast look great with some fabulous hairstyles and plenty of woad for the Ancient Britons.  This young lady is only eleven, so I predict a great future there. There is an excellent range of lights in the hall, combined with a hazer and a smoke machine and there were some super lighting effects, especially in ‘Sweet Dreams are made of This’ in Act 2. The cast were very fortunate to all have a head mike. This did help with audibility. But some of these young perfomers still need to articulate more in order to project sufficiently into their mikes. Bella Curtis as the Sorceress really showed us how this was done with faultless diction throughout.

There was a multipurpose set with a very convincing bonfire, which gave a good atmosphere before the production started. A lot of work goes into constructing the sets as the stage has to be completely built in a space which is usually a church.

The cast enjoyed the wide choice of lively music, as did the audience. Everyone was delighted when one of the witches, named Aeline, was encouraged to make an effective spell. ‘Come on Aeline’ was one of the strongest numbers in the show., sung by the entire company.

Congratulations to everyone on this team effort. I was lucky enough to meet the cast in the interval and this feels like a real ‘family affair’, with many of the group joining at aged nine, staying on until fifteen and then becoming leaders themselves. Long may it continue. And a final mention to that essential group in any youth theatre- the chaperones. Without these volunteers, the show doesn’t go on, so a big thank you to them.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.