Sister Act

‘Sisters’ Rock to the Rafters! YAOS brought a heavenly aura to the Octagon Theatre when Sister Acts ‘All Singing All Dancing Nuns’ hit the stage. Every nun gave 100% their tackling of gospel singing was effortless and there was no limit to their boundless energy as they cut shapes on the dance floor!   Karen Pankhurst as Mother Superior commanded the stage, her style was natural and effortless, a master class in acting;. Making her stage debut was ‘power house’ Kathryn Stevens playing Deloris Van Cartier the wanna be nightclub singer, this was a massive role, not just vocally but also physically. Kathryn made her deliously brash and self obsessed but also with a hapless vulnerability making her portrayal completely believable and performance electric! Another young lady making her debut was Elouise Driver; she was YAOS’s secret weapon!  Playing Sister Mary Roberts ‘mouse’ her shy and apologetic manor was perfect and she sang like an angel. Mark Lawson was perfectly cast as Sweaty Eddie, a gentle man but sad excuse for a cop, his singing and disco dancing to ‘I Could be that Guy’ was one of the highlights of the show. In complete contrast was Curtis played by Andrew Helson whose steely eyed ice cold portrayal made your flesh creep? His three hoods TJ, Joey and Pablo (Ben Scott, Zade Milnes and Luke Whitchurch) who between them couldn’t harm a fly  added the comedy element to the production in particular in their demonstration of how to woe a nun! Cameo roles were brought to live by YAOS’s stalwarts each adding their own unique talent.

Sister Act had many highlights, most dominated by the nuns. My own favourite was Deloris and the Sisters in their pyjamas! The wardrobe for the entire show had been well selected and the colourful array of costumes complemented the production. YAOS were fortunate to have the combined talents of Julie Storey in her directorial debut for YAOS and Musical Director Gill Merrifield together they had to drawn every ounce of energy both physically and vocally from this dynamic company to produce the first class production that was on the stage tonight.

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