The Opal Ring

It was a privilege to see Side by Side performing again at their venue, The SideSpace in Stourbridge, with the added bonus that the company had created an original piece of work to perform. A play called The Opal Ring.

This production was created mainly out of virtual creative workshops on the platform Zoom and this was the first actual drama performance in The Sidespace.
Founder and Artistic Director Sue Wallin MBE and Founder and Vice Chair Derek Lidington were keen to explore the technical side and the capabilities of the venue and assisted with developing and directing the story. The experience and the skills of Mark Williams who tutors Side by Side students in digital skills media classes also helped create the show. The back projection images were created and compiled by one of the actors James Emtage, and the music which was chosen for the show was very dramatic and a perfect accompaniment.

It started with a simple concept, the cast were asked to bring alive or act out their favourite character. The show evolved through weeks of devising which included these characters and ultimately it ended up as a fantasy adventure quest with a battle between good and evil.  The plot had hints of modern superhero and classic fantasy story elements, a journey, a fellowship, a ring, a lurking presence, an adventure in the mountains and a parallel universe. It was wonderfully inventive.

The Opal Ring begins when two members of the general public find a ring in the street and being good citizens go to the local police station and hand it over it to a very helpful and friendly Police Constable. The ring had fallen into our world after two bungling thieves stole it and then lost it

This ring is no ordinary ring of course, it belongs to the last known unicorn called Opal who lives in a parallel universe. The people of this parallel universe including clowns, a sorceress and a wizard all help on the quest to find the ring. The search for the ring brings the characters together across a dangerous mountain trek where Troglodytes loomed and the evil Zircon awaits.

The contemporary movement, sharp dialogue, dynamics, interaction, presence, confidence and energy of all of the actors made this epic story a joy to watch and at times modern and relatable with a nice little love story thrown in for good measure.

It was a pleasure to see how each and every member of the company provided a memorable and dynamic performance and also how the actors complemented and supported each other throughout. The charisma and copious amounts of smiles made my day.

Thank you for the kind invitation and I hope to see you again very soon.   

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