Very Grimm Tales

“Very Grimm Tales” is a compilation of four short plays written by producer Dave Slade, with additional input from Carl Ames, some four years ago. Throughout Covid the Youth Theatre was on hold and now a new set of youngsters have taken to the stage. It was so encouraging to see these youngsters display so much enthusiasm even though most of them had never been on a stage before let alone performed in front of an audience. Well done you.

The four short plays, Thumbelina and Little Tiny, The Peasant and The Devil, Rapunzel and finally Sleeping Beauty enabled all members of the cast to be featured at some point, thus boosting confidence and learning the basics of stage craft.

One point I do have to mention is pace. Almost everyone in the cast spoke far too quickly and need to learn to slow down. The audience want to understand and enjoy what you are saying and if you speak too quickly they might miss an important piece of information, a clue to a mystery or the beautiful words of a poem. Also, if you wear a mask then diction and ends of words are so important, again so that your audience can enjoy what you are saying. 

However, having said that, use of the stage space was good and you had all worked very hard at learning your lines. 

I liked the 3D effect with the hanging clouds and the effectively painted tree flats.

The music was well chosen and the costumes appropriate.

Although I cannot mention every member of the company individually there are a number of individuals that I feel should be recognised and indeed watched closely in the future.I was impressed by the work of Imogen Clements, Tabitha Goodall, Phoebe Smith-Holland, Sammy Kate Taylor and Olivia Timbrell. All five displayed a natural stage presence and I enjoyed their individual performances very much. 

These four short plays were the perfect forum for a young, inexperienced youth section of a very supportive senior company and I wish them every success in the future.

Thank you for inviting me and for Sophie for looking after me so well.

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