The Flint Street Nativity

Flint Street Nativity a comedy play staged by Chorley Amateur Dramatic and Operatic Society (CADOS) at Chorley Theatre, Dole Lane, Chorley on Friday, 23rd February, 2024

This clever, witty yet poignant play was penned by the ever so talented Tim Firth. The storyline provides an ideal opportunity for adult actors to release their inner child!  Set in the fictitious Flint Street Primary School, the play focuses on a class of seven-year-olds preparing to give the one and only performance of their annual nativity, guided by Miss Horrocks.  Squabbles and disasters occur… ‘Gabriel’ wants to play ‘Mary’; the grumbling ’star’ suggests that she’s not a proper star like they have at NASA and to top it all ‘Peter Crouch’ is on the loose… problems that can’t be resolved even by using an ‘overhead projector!' At the end, the cast appear as the adult parents of their children they’ve played, and we were given a very clear insight as to the reasons behind their children’s behaviours.

I’ve had the pleasure to have seen and been involved with many school nativities over the years and having worked as a volunteer in a playgroup for several years, this really did bring back so many great memories, so many laugh-out-loud moments from those Christmas nativities past.

Production Team… Robert Walsh (Director) was the one tasked with bringing this production to stage and I would suggest that this wasn’t the easiest of plays to cast or stage, but what a great job Robert and Rebecca Dickinson (Producer/Stage Manager) did... but, after saying all that, I can also only imagine the amount of fun they must have had, creating these amazing childlike characters all with their own individual stories to tell!  They’d gathered a wonderfully enthusiastic cast, all of whom created this array of amazing characters, who provided us with some hilarious comedic yet poignant moments. Be proud Robert/Rebecca … great job!

The Cast… ‘favourites/show stealers’…. this is where I usually stick my neck out and start suggesting favourite performances, favourite characters, but yet again I’m struggling because there were no weak links in this production… but not wanting to ‘sit on the fence’ I’d like to suggest MY ‘fab four’, ask anyone present that evening and they may well select others, but these ae mine with my ‘show stealer’ being our ‘Narrator’ … Shaz Holstead, who took on this role and made it her own!  Dry, funny, this was a fabulous performance by an actress on top of her game!  Honestly, I started to laugh before she even spoke on many occasions, her mannerisms, her facial expressions, her body language just oozed comedy.  Great stage presence, totally believable, great diction with wonderful comedic timing, be very proud Shaz, an amazing performance!  My next three ran Shaz ever so close for ‘top spot’ … we had Katie Potter as ‘Star’, Natalie Howarth as the ‘Shepherd’ and Andrew Kidd taking on the dual role of ‘Herod and Joseph’!  OMG Katie provided us with this wonderful character in the form of ‘Star’ who’s obsessed with all thing’s science, especially space and space travel because of the belief that ‘Uncle Ted’ works for NASA… but does he?  PS: Uncle Ted turns out to be her dad!  Wonderful characterisation Katie, wonderful stage presence … be very proud, great job! Natalie gave us an amazing performance as the ‘Shepherd’ … OMG… so many laugh out loud moments, so many great one liners… the scene where she describes the birth of a lamb, the ‘play centre’ (placenta), plus her rendition of ‘Silent Night’ sung with ‘different words’ (as were all the ‘carols’) was a major highlight for me… be ever so proud Natalie!  Loved Andrew’s portrayal of ‘Herod/Joseph’ (PS really doesn’t want to play Joseph and boy does he let you know) ... a shy lad, obsessed with all things ‘football/all things ‘Question of Sport and Match of the Day’. All the scenes involving the ‘sporty side’ were hilarious, his ‘over the top’ antics, his vocal choices, mannerisms, enthusiasm and energy were infectious, you really didn’t know what he was going to do next... be very proud Andrew great characterisation!  These may have been ‘MY fab four’, but as I said previously... there were no weak links in this production.  Rachel Toner gave us a great ‘Mary’, bossy, queen of the classroom and teacher's pet... Alice Charnley gave us a great ‘Gabriel’, although she let us know in no uncertain terms that she wanted to play Mary!  The grumpiest ‘Innkeeper’ you’ve ever met was portrayed in great style by Fraser Bruce, bit scary at times as he no doubt should have been, but another great character created, well done Fraser.  Gemma Nightingale and Lynn Harley gave us two wonderful characters in the form of ‘Wise Gold’ and ‘Wise Frankincense’ respectively... great stage presence, loved the characters created… be proud, you two… great job!  Stephen Clipston created an amusing character as the cardboard headed ‘Ass’ ... who just appears to sail through life without a care in the world... be proud Stephen!  Fiona Clarke did a great job as ‘Angel’ ... loved the dress, it was ‘bigger and better’ than Gabriels and those light up wings were impressive!  We had two walk-on cameo roles ‘Miss Horrocks’ played by Anna Spencer and ‘Mr Bradley-Baldwin' played by Ciaran McGhee… a fabulous cast who all brought their ‘A’ game… congrats one and all!

Staging/Set/Tech ... Rebecca Dickinson (Stage Manager) was overseeing everything backstage... Paul Carr (Set Design/Lighting and Sound) and his team of trusty ‘Set Builders’, Eleanor Quin, Gillian Dawson, Ian Brookfield, Joanna Hemming, Maureen Strand, Rebecca Dickinson, Shaun McManus, Stephen Irish and Tony Voss provided us with a basic set which was used throughout, which afforded the cast all the space/exits/entries required to do their thing and do it well!   Anna Spencer, Ciaran McGhee, Ian Brookfield, Lili Irish, Nat Carr, Sophie Clipston and Stephen Irish made up the ... ‘pushers and pullers’ ... the Stage Crew... who did a great job, quietly and efficiently as always!  

Sound/Lighting was in the safe and capable hands of Paul Carr and Ben Holden... well done again guys! 

Costumes... there were some amazing costumes which enhanced this production ever so much, all being overseen by Sandra Dickinson

Props... keeping an eye on all things ‘prop wise’ we had Kath Townsend and Ro Littlejohns ... well done you two... lots to look after I would suggest! 

I think the applause at the finale from the capacity audience and the smiles on everyone’s face as they left the theatre just about said it all about the production.  Congrats CADOS, this was an excellent production that took many of us back to our childhood and sent us all home with huge smiles on our faces 

Thank you so much for inviting me, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening!  The drive home was filled with laughter, smiles and me thinking about so many great nativities from my past… see you all again soon!

Stay safe, keep well…
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe

NODA NW
District 6 Rep

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.