The Hypersonic Hare and The Tricky Tortoise and Teen Angel

It was a real privilege to be able to join St Augustine’s Repertory Society for their 1st ever Junior Stars production and for their 1st outing they took on not one, but two plays in one evening. A short Hypersonic Hare and the Tricky Tortoise for the younger male actors in the group followed by Teen Angel for the full cast and both really showed off the talents in the group’s ranks.

The whole evening had a lovely friendly feel with the seats laid out in a Cabaret style with families enjoying drinks and little picnics to watch the shows and it was lovely to see lots of friendly and familiar faces as we took to our table. 

The 1st play Hypersonic Hare and the Tricky Tortoise featured just 4 young actors and each one played their role with great effect. A funny short play telling the tale of how the phrase Tortoise and the Hare came about through the first ever race between the two animals.

Who ever knew that the reason the Tortoise won was through cheating and deception?

Commentating on proceedings was our Roving Sports Reporter played with great style and charisma by Alfie Webster, after an energetic interview with the running champion of the world he oversaw proceedings on the new challenge ahead. Cheered on by a large crowd, the actors in the 2nd play, Alfie’s enthusiastic and lively style created a great atmosphere.

Playing the role of our Champion, the Hare, was Lawrie McKeown who gave us two lovely sides to the character. A suave and at times embarrassed hero followed by a much more sensitive and understanding soul when learning of the fraud and deceit.

Playing the underhand and naughty Tortoise was Alexander who played his role excellently, his manners and actions slow, his looks sneaky and his mannerisms perfect for the cheat in the race. I loved his interaction with the Fox when convincing him to help drug the Hare and the slow-motion race finish with the Hare was excellent physical comedy made even more funny with the Chariots of Fire theme tune playing behind.

Stuck in the middle of all the action was Samuel Webber playing the Fox. Brilliantly handled as he battles with his conscience of accepting the bribe to help Tortoise or exposing the truth and doing the right thing. You could really see his brain ticking over and his explosion of guilt when revealing the lie was fabulous.

With the Hare deciding not to expose the lie and instead leave the story of the Tortoise beating the Hare as a lesson for us all, the short play ended on a lovely bright note. Well done to the young four boys involved and to Directors Iain Pearson and Carolyn McGuckin who not only got the best out of their performers but created a lively and fast flowing show.

After the interval and a victorious raffle break, we settled down for the main show of the night, Teen Angel performed by 11 Juniors and 1 adult. Teen Angel tells the story of a young girl, Peggy, sent back down to earth to tie up loose ends before she is admitted to heaven following a fatal car accident. 

The play opens with a vocal monologue of the earlier incident before we begin at the pearly gates where Peggy is greeted by the Angel, Gabriella. Izzy Pearson played this role and was a beaming joy to watch, her dialogue lovely and clear and she oozed warmth and charm as she told Peggy of her mission back down on earth. 

Back on earth the curtains opened to the central set, Alice’s Diner, a lovely bright and colourful set with detailed props including fake food and milkshakes and the whole stage looked the part - well done to the set and props team.

Here we meet another of our main central characters, Kate played exceptionally well by Scarlett Springhall. Having to cover a vast range of emotions in her role as she deals with bullying, huge workloads, and a love interest she managed all of these with real style. Her facial expressions really shone out, her dialogue was controlled without rushing her many lines and she interacted really well with all the other cast members. A standout performance.

I especially loved her scenes with Peggy in the show who herself was played excellently by Sayde Malcolm in a very tricky role to handle. Denied of her memories when sent back to Earth she had to try and unravel everything and understand what she was sent back down to earth to complete. It would become apparent that the main story was the life she had left behind and the boy Kate is in love with is actually her ex-boyfriend who was driving in her fatal accident. Sensing Kate’s dilemma and the rough life she is having she works on her to build up her confidence and the scenes were really tender and heartwarming to watch.

George Richardson played the role of Rick, Kate’s love interest battling to let go of Peggy and move on. Often a very silent figure sat in solitude. It was lovely to see the change in character and the warmth and affection shine through later on.

Interfering in affairs was a confusing figure of David, in a similar role as Peggy and sent back to earth himself, although clearly not from heaven. Alfie Webster took on this role and was a menacing cheeky figure throughout, in an almost witty gameshow host style he charmed his way into Peggy’s affections eventually realising his own faults and errors in his way. 

Little sub-plots featured within the play giving more performers the chance to shine. Hannah Connor was brilliant as the bullying cheerleader Heather, backed up by her cheer squad of Abbie Coady and Rowan Steggall. Her attitude from the start was perfect for the role, the sneers and physical dominance of Kate ideal for the role and her song “You Don’t Own Me” delivered grit and sass throughout.

Her undoing was a highlight of the play when confronted by a fellow bully from another part of town and she had clearly met her match in Becks played excellently by Jasmine Ellerton. With her crew of Rosie McMullen and Erin Woodliffe standing right by her side she matched Heather every inch for attitude (I would not want to be in the middle of these two). There was only one way for this to be settled, a dance off, and it was hysterical with both trios matching each other all the way with some wicked moves. It finally took a tumble from Heather for Becks to be victorious and for her rival to fade into the background. The smirking grin said it all!

Whilst the cast were all Juniors in the show, we did have one adult present in Melanie McNiff who played the role of Alice. She managed the part really well offering warmth in character towards Kate and also a little bit of spice herself when dolled up for a night out.

The show had a lovely finale. Peggy let David remove his guilt, Kate got her man, David and Peggy found love in heaven and everything was again good with the world. A lovely heartfelt finish to a great premiere play for these youngsters.

Huge credit must go to Co-Directors Donna Watson and Alan Anderson for putting on a lovely play for these young STARS. Great use of the stage front and curtains allowed scene changes to be swift and the play to move a great pace. The vision for the show worked with great costumes and lighting bringing it to life. Some very clever song choices allowed the performers to show off their quality with Sayde delivering an emotional number to George at the end and Scarlett singing a beautiful version of Chasing Cars.

For a first production this was a great choice of play allowing the actors to build great characters, the performance went down really well with the whole audience, and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for these Bright Stars!

 

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