Rent

This was my first visit to the Westcliff theatre, and I was entranced by this lovely, atmospheric venue, which was clearly loved and cherished by the West Cliff Performers. Once I had been given my tickets by the volunteer usher, everyone I met went out of their way to be friendly, helpful, and kind. Mervyn, who showed me to my seat went out of his way to give me the history of the theatre and I was also presented with a 125-year history book of the theatre by the Deputy Manager – Many thanks, and much appreciated! Thanks also to the Director (Chris Bareham) and Assistant Director (Ashley Glander), for taking the time to chat to me and answering my questions about the show and the theatre group in general.

We took our seats in the wonderful, six hundred seat auditorium and the audience numbered approximately two hundred, and they were certainly making themselves heard!The WCP group featured a cast of over thirty talented performers who sang their hearts out in this rock musical, which was performed 95% of the time entirely in song. This theatre group clearly have a philosophy of being fully inclusive and it was wonderful to see the camaraderie on stage. The audience were very engaged and clearly loved the show and all scenes, songs and dances were applauded and cheered very enthusiastically.

The main set featured a superb, elaborate, run-down, New York street scene, which was very impressive – full credit to the stage manager (Kevin Guymer) and talented team. The stage was used very well, with characters entering via the wings or coming onto the stage through the hall for more poignant moments of the production. Scene changes took place fluently and seamlessly by the cast themselves in a very efficient manner.The sound effects were good, and the lighting was extremely impressive and worked well. The music was provided by a live band, and this really helped to give this great show a sense of occasion. This show required all songs and dialogue to be delivered at a good pace and several actors had many lines to learn and songs to sing.Several of the cast had mastered an authentic American accent and this added to the enjoyment of the performance. Most of the characters could be heard at the back of the hall and the microphones worked very well. The costumes and make up were good and in general, most of the actors looked their part.

The casting of most of the characters was good and clearly, all of the cast were enjoying their parts. The timing and pace were in general, effective. The action was incredibly busy and frenetic at times and the audience needed to pay full attention all the time to everything that was taking place all over the stage.

The Ensemble: Homeless people/Junkies/Dancers played their parts very effectively and added to the sense of life on the streets in 1980s New York – well done! Korben Symmonds played Mark with great empathy and had good stage presence at all times. Charlie Vaughn played Benny and gave a particularly good interpretation as a callous businessman who eventually reforms. Emily Foot and Phoebe Wiggett played Joanne and Maureen effectively and their characters were believable and Phoebe’s singing voice, in particular was superb! James Clarke played Tom Collins in a terrific, interesting, endearing way and his relationship with Angel, superbly played by Edward Wayland was spot on, demonstrating a human, touching element to the hard, New York setting. Nikki Heap played Mimi and she worked hard to portray a down at heel New Yorker who has lost her way in life and is searching for the ‘American dream.’  Simon Hipkin played Roger terrifically and his enthusiasm and talent shone throughout the entire show – well done! While watching the show, the characters were believable in their roles and credit needs to be given to the director for her wonderful vision with this talented theatre group.

This was a goodtheatre production, and everyone involved should feel proud of this powerful production.

Very well done to everyone concerned!

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