It was a full house at the matinee I attended, eagerly waiting the curtain up. The opening, and what an opening, was very vibrant and full of energy. The band was great and added dimension to the whole show; I could also hear every word of dialogue and song. The opening set looked fabulous, it was well painted, a credit to this society’s talents making all their own scenery, the opening chorus was engaging and was full of energy, I loved how the children came into the audience and were so energetic, the costumes were great and in keeping, the choreography was together and well executed with lovely smiles and great singing and dancing well done.

 

And now to the cast – Bob Cratchit was well acted by Fr. Douglas Moore; Scrooge played by Robin Wolfendale took a good character, as did Marley played by Claire Wolfendale. Karen Clegg played Mrs Fezziwig, Jane Wainwright played a confident Mrs Cratchit, Jim and Kim Cratchit was played well by Charlie Lomax and Holly Whitham-Vaja. Tiny Tim was very confidently played by Emily Caton who had great stage presence and projection. Kian Gregson was a good policeman, constantly being duped by Tiny Tim. The three ghosts were brilliant, all working together, played by ‘Past’ Lucy Caton, ‘Present’ by Eleanor Tomlin and finally ‘Future’ by Amelia Gould – well done!

 

The lighting plot was great and I could hear every word of dialogue, even the one liners. I loved the visual gag of Tiny Tim’s arrival being dropped in. The young comedy duo of Beggit (Matthew Wainwright) and Cadgit (Courtney Walsh) was great comedy with the timing and gags well executed, keep up the good work. This whole show went with a bang from start to finish with many notable performances; you should all be very proud – well done! The choice of musical numbers was brilliant and the UV scene was tremendous – well done.

 

During my time in amateur theatre I have seen many notable performances, having played many principal roles and directed many times. It takes a lot to impress me however; I was blown away totally by Dave Gallagher who played the dame Miss Belle Bakewell. David’s total encapsulation of what is a true family orientated traditional dame was fantastic. He delivered this role with wonderful empathy and the clever use of ad libs was fantastic. This, combined with co-director Janet Nattrass was a real challenge. However, never fazed with this, you delivered a first class performance and a great production that worked, well done. 

 

The encouragement that Dave and the cast showed to the young members of this lovely society was what we should all be striving to achieve, giving them all a chance to perform – well done. 

 

The production, stage crew and choreography teams should all give themselves a great pat on the back – well done to you all. This was a brilliant show which reflected the hard work everyone had put into it. Well done and thank you for a lovely afternoon’s entertainment.

 

Author: Kevin Rawcliffe