The Time Machine

For the eighteenth time the Barton Players Summer School production provided children aged from five years and upwards the opportunity to get involved in a show that is all produced in just a week. It must be a scary prospect for the willing team of Barton Players volunteers to take a group of kids on a Sunday knowing that in five days time they are putting on a show in front of a paying audience, but somehow they overcome any difficulties in their path and always give us a fun, entertaining show that warms the heart.  

This year we had Keith Badham’s somewhat distorted version of HG Wells’ The Time Machine. Like the original story we had time travellers, Eloi and Morlocks however unlike HG Wells who was content to have a single time traveler, Keith preferred to have a group of 10 which gave a much more varied option to play with and certainly allowed for the inclusion of more tea and scones.

Joel Platt playing the lead traveler, Professor Herbert, spoke well throughout, led us along the storyline and played the straight man with ease. Some of his companions on the journey were not so straight forward. Leo Williamson and Harrison Hunt looked overly at ease as Lady Eleanor and Mrs Evans, I’m not sure if they were more drag queens or pantomime dames, but certainly added something different. Professor Sterling (Charlie Simmons), Sir Robert (Ella May Wathall), Miss Thompson (Daisy Cassels), Dr Williams (William Thompson-Hoare), Maid Emily (Tallula Smith), Captain Miles (Ashley Riley) and Mr Griffin (Christian Farr) made up the rest of the valiant band of travelers, all of whom had their moments and awful jokes to keep us smiling.

Olivia Horwood took charge of the Eloi as their leader - Weena, she was always assured, confident and clearly spoken and is a fine example for her much younger accomplices Gracie Elliot, Leah Spriggs, Eliza Wilkinson, Ellie Paul, Violet Knight and Layla Nash to learn from.

Lauren Platt led the Morlock contingent keeping her motley crew in line, played by Edward Thompson-Hoare, Caitlin Wustrau, Christopher Paxton, Poppy Widdowfield, Lewis Edwards and Finn Thompson-Hoare, Finn did particularly well when he was left on stage alone to keep us amused. The cast was completed by two robots Eddie and Oscar played by Elliot Edwards and Artie Thompson-Nash.

This year there were quite a number of younger cast members which was great to see and hopefully we will see them again in years to come. All of them had their own lines, sadly – but understandably - some of the dialogue was lost due to a lack of volume, something I am sure they will improve next time. It is quite usual these days to see shows where the number of male actors is greatly outweighed by the girls, so it was a pleasure to see so many boys up on stage, Barton is obviously a hotbed for male actors!

The music was varied, with a lot of songs I didn’t know – the Shazam App came in useful more than once! Songs were generally selected well to fit the scene. ‘Ghost Town’ was notable for the energy the cast displayed with their ‘Arggghhhhs’ and ‘Make Me Smile’ – well led by Leo Williamson was a really fun number. Olivia Horwood’s rendition of ‘The Last Man On Earth’ probably took the plaudits for the top song of the show.

With such a range of ages in the cast the choreography was always going to be difficult to pitch right for everyone, it was challenging at times for the younger ones, which sadly then made it look little untidy. However, that wasn’t always the case and particularly in Lady Gaga’s ‘Applause’ the cast movement was good and the stage used really well. ‘Everybody Get Up’ was another number where the cast oozed confidence in what they were doing and really looked to be enjoying themselves.  

The cast did look to be having fun throughout, and ultimately that is the point, isn’t it? None more so than Eliza Wilkinson whose beaming smile from the first minute almost to the last is an example for everyone on stage to follow; she didn’t quite managed to smile during the finale due to tripping up running up the stairs but like a trooper she hid the tears and carried on – well done!  

It is easy to forget that all of this production is done within days and sometimes just hours, so all of the crew from Stage, Props, Costumes, Sound, Lighting can all take pride from putting on yet another great show and providing memories for the cast, audience and all of those involved.

For the eighteenth time the Barton Players Summer School production provided children aged from five years and upwards the opportunity to get involved in a show that is all produced in just a week. It must be a scary prospect for the willing team of Barton Players volunteers to take a group of kids on a Sunday knowing that in five days time they are putting on a show in front of a paying audience, but somehow they overcome any difficulties in their path and always give us a fun, entertaining show that warms the heart.  

This year we had Keith Badham’s somewhat distorted version of HG Wells’ The Time Machine. Like the original story we had time travellers, Eloi and Morlocks however unlike HG Wells who was content to have a single time traveler, Keith preferred to have a group of 10 which gave a much more varied option to play with and certainly allowed for the inclusion of more tea and scones.

Joel Platt playing the lead traveler, Professor Herbert, spoke well throughout, led us along the storyline and played the straight man with ease. Some of his companions on the journey were not so straight forward. Leo Williamson and Harrison Hunt looked overly at ease as Lady Eleanor and Mrs Evans, I’m not sure if they were more drag queens or pantomime dames, but certainly added something different. Professor Sterling (Charlie Simmons), Sir Robert (Ella May Wathall), Miss Thompson (Daisy Cassels), Dr Williams (William Thompson-Hoare), Maid Emily (Tallula Smith), Captain Miles (Ashley Riley) and Mr Griffin (Christian Farr) made up the rest of the valiant band of travelers, all of whom had their moments and awful jokes to keep us smiling.

Olivia Horwood took charge of the Eloi as their leader - Weena, she was always assured, confident and clearly spoken and is a fine example for her much younger accomplices Gracie Elliot, Leah Spriggs, Eliza Wilkinson, Ellie Paul, Violet Knight and Layla Nash to learn from.

Lauren Platt led the Morlock contingent keeping her motley crew in line, played by Edward Thompson-Hoare, Caitlin Wustrau, Christopher Paxton, Poppy Widdowfield, Lewis Edwards and Finn Thompson-Hoare, Finn did particularly well when he was left on stage alone to keep us amused. The cast was completed by two robots Eddie and Oscar played by Elliot Edwards and Artie Thompson-Nash.

This year there were quite a number of younger cast members which was great to see and hopefully we will see them again in years to come. All of them had their own lines, sadly – but understandably - some of the dialogue was lost due to a lack of volume, something I am sure they will improve next time. It is quite usual these days to see shows where the number of male actors is greatly outweighed by the girls, so it was a pleasure to see so many boys up on stage, Barton is obviously a hotbed for male actors!

The music was varied, with a lot of songs I didn’t know – the Shazam App came in useful more than once! Songs were generally selected well to fit the scene. ‘Ghost Town’ was notable for the energy the cast displayed with their ‘Arggghhhhs’ and ‘Make Me Smile’ – well led by Leo Williamson was a really fun number. Olivia Horwood’s rendition of ‘The Last Man On Earth’ probably took the plaudits for the top song of the show.

With such a range of ages in the cast the choreography was always going to be difficult to pitch right for everyone, it was challenging at times for the younger ones, which sadly then made it look little untidy. However, that wasn’t always the case and particularly in Lady Gaga’s ‘Applause’ the cast movement was good and the stage used really well. ‘Everybody Get Up’ was another number where the cast oozed confidence in what they were doing and really looked to be enjoying themselves.  

The cast did look to be having fun throughout, and ultimately that is the point, isn’t it? None more so than Eliza Wilkinson whose beaming smile from the first minute almost to the last is an example for everyone on stage to follow; she didn’t quite managed to smile during the finale due to tripping up running up the stairs but like a trooper she hid the tears and carried on – well done!  

It is easy to forget that all of this production is done within days and sometimes just hours, so all of the crew from Stage, Props, Costumes, Sound, Lighting can all take pride from putting on yet another great show and providing memories for the cast, audience and all of those involved.

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