The Emperor’s New Clothes

This was my first visit to Letham Drama Group and also my first view of “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. In a village of less than 2000 population to see that they had a cast of over 30 and a crew of 40 just showed the support this group is able to gather.

It is many years since I attended a musical show which did not have the benefit of sound equipment and this meant that although the hall was not large, the fact that we were attending a matinee performance meant that those unable to project their voices in traditional style, were competing with an audience containing a number of restless youngsters and some managed; some didn’t quite make it!

In the title role of Emperor Montague Preen, Alan Johnston was one who certainly did, filling the hall with his strong voice (singing as well as talking) and he carried the weight of a very wordy script in great style. Others who almost made it were his long-suffering wife Persephone (Sue Beaven), her maid Violet (Shannon Stewart) and their son Sean (Catherine Kay), while the narrator of the piece Footie (Kate Miller) was able to deal with the situation.

Farmer’s wife Nellie Nimby (Natalie Smith) and daughter Amelia (Jessie-Ann Skivington) also coped well and carried much of the comedy and romance of the piece. Angus Macfarlane in the flamboyant role of fashion designer Fabulozo Fettaccini was in energetic form and along with Mr Swindle (Eddie Hill) and Mr Fiddler (Rohan Banks-Hawley) made up the “baddy” team of the plot.

A superb dancing cow, Clover and a beautiful group of fairies were very entertaining and extremely well dressed, adding a real Panto feeling to the whole affair.

Mention must be made of the excellent scenery ably designed and built by stage manager Dawn Crichton and her hard-working crew and a great range of costumes also created “in house” completed this group’s hard work and devotion to their craft. Well done Letham.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.