Hi Ho! Hi Ho! What a marvellous show at Eyemouth
OCTOBER arrives, the clocks go back, the rain starts to fall and the temperature drops and we all begin to wonder where the next warm, exciting, colourful and vibrant experience will come from.
Those who were lucky enough to see the Eyemouth and District Community Youth Theatre Group’s production of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ did not need to wait for spring, everything we needed to “feel good” was right here! The captivating, not to mention exceedingly clever script gave licence to the cast to provide us with comedy, surprise, song and dance.
The story unfolded long ago in a land far away…..
Fairy Good Fortune offered the outline of the story with an elegant and deliberate opening. Clear pronunciation and an ability to set the scene and tone for the audience is something that comes only with an appreciation of that audience.
Margaret Gillie was able to capture the wide eyes of children and the attentive ear of the adults alike from the very outset, giving only a glimpse of what was to come and leaving everyone in suspense as to how the story could end ‘happily ever after’.
A character that was for Maureen very different and somewhat subdued from other roles invited a challenge. This was a performance which delivered just the right amount of empathy and oozed professionalism to the very end. Simply charming.
Enter Avarice, the Wicked Queen who really was quite obscene! The cackling crowing vocals and all round horrible personality was played superbly by May Jappy.
It is not easy to deliver a performance whilst the full complement of Brownies and Guides on the front row (not to mention 150 adults) are screaming abuse at you, this is in itself being a complement of the way in which the role was unravelled.
Very clever mood lighting and strategically placed backdrops mesmerised us all when ‘Merlin of the Magic Mirror’ appeared as the reflective answer to the Queen’s queries; Jamie Grant gave a fantastic glimpse of tension and intrigue as his confident delivery of truth to the ‘mirror mirror’ questions sent the Queen quite scatty with disbelief!
Snow White was in complete contrast to the Queen’s nasty and ugly persona. Beautiful, serene and with a soft yet clear voice, Alex Redpath was without doubt a shining star, and indeed, one for the future. Her singing debut with the enchanting Prince Ferdinand was gorgeous, as much as her relationship with the seven ‘wee guys’ was charming.
An aptitude to show the different qualities needed for specific scenes was evident throughout and her facial expressions gave the impression that she meant every word and enjoyed every minute. A captivating performance, well done!
Every show needs a jester. Chuckles did not need too many prompts from the audience to get ‘shuffling’ as each time Katie Blatchley arrived on scene the colourful character demanded the attention of all. Fantastically delivered one liners fused together with frequent exuberance gave the show vitality.
I was awaiting the entrance of the pantomime dame with great anticipation. “You always know what you’re going to get with Campbell McNeil” don’t you? Not true.
The arrival of Edna Bucket from Rochdale is living proof that you should never judge a book ….An amazing delivery of a brash north west accent was upheld throughout his performance, giving superb and at times unexpected punch lines to the delight of all.
The ad-lib lines come with ease to someone who holds such natural stage presence. Another great one chalked off Campbell – see you next year!
Sometimes the unexpected happens, for me it was the arrival of what can only be described as the best comedy duo performance I have seen from someone of their age.
Comedy is all about timing, understanding the delivery, and knowing how to put body actions with words. Justice Quill played by Mak Wilson flanked by his quite literal minder Scribbles played by Katie Dyson were simply remarkable.
Scribbles needed to catch up on technology to make life easier as a scribe, and so taking his superiors instruction to the letter bought himself a blackberry. Shame it was two sizes too big and didn’t fit his very busy head – fantastic!
It was the evident cohesion between the two which made the pair such a great success. These two are definitely prospects for the future.
Prince Ferdinand of Farawasia was gracefully played by Brooke Dougal. Both her singing duet with Snow White and her solo number had even the youngest members of the audience paying paramount attention.
Never easy to stand along on stage and sing but these renditions were an excellent demonstration of her vocal ability and I’m sure we shall be enjoying performances such as the one given here from Brooke for years to come.
The evil Slurp (who turned out to be not so evil in the end) obeyed the command of the obscene queen who asked for the heart of Snow White. His hypnotic state was broken by the Fairy Good Fortune and so convincing was Angus Watt in his role that he managed to persuade the queen that a lamb’s heart from the Co-op had sealed Snow White’s fate!
And so on to the principal gang of three foot tall diamond miners, Brainy, Smiley, Dozey, Grumbly, Bashful, Snoozy and Sniffle. The dwarfs were played by Rachel Frater, Rachel Boyes, Ben Grant, Ailsa Landels, Georgia Giacopazzi, Camae Aitchison and Emma Worters.
All aptly cast within each character, they assembled in disarray each day to embark on as little work and as much hilarity as possible. Appealing, spirited and very colourful, there were certainly no SHORTcomings in any of their performances. Delightful!
An enchanting forest scene provided the backdrop for a most captivating chorus dance. The trees and animals of the forest coming to life, held children of the audience spellbound.
A fantastic array of colourful ingenious costumes ( Lillian Smith and Utopia Costumes) married with cleverly constructed choreography and music (Pamela Toward, Lillian Smith and Tamsin McKechnie) gave a memorable resonance with the whole audience.
The chorus were exceptionally strong in both song and dance and each face gave an impression that they were thoroughly enjoying it – as were we! Members of the chorus : Rhiannon Allan, Carly Black, Naomi Black, Calum Blair, Molly Bogle, Dion Boon, Lewis Boyes, Shona Chapman, Alex Clough, Joelle Craig, Alan Crowe, Clare Dalgity, Isla Dempster, Kirsty Doogan, Michael Doogan, Rory Fairbairn, Alison Flockhart, Cheryl Forman, Cameron Frater, Shannon Gilles, Brooke Heary, Kirsten Hood, Laura Kaite, Amy Laidlaw, Carla Laidlaw, Caitlin Lauder, Grant Maltman, Annabel Matthews, Caitlin McBean, Miranda McFarlane, Hannah McLeman, Alicia McTavish, Lewis Middlemiss, Roma Peakman, Hannah Ritchie, Sophie Ritchie, Erin Robertson, Hayley Robinson, Holly Simpson, Mirren Sinton, Ashleigh Smith, Cerys Smith, Shannon Smith, Heather Smith, Leoke Spouse, Tamara Turnbull, Daisy Watt, Ewan Wilson, Ryan Wilson, Sharon Wilson and Daisy Young.
Credits for the show go to: prompt – Moira Gillie; publicity and PA to production – Joan Blatchley; lights – Callum Burns; props – the Dream Team and friends; sound – Reckless Productions; make-up – Karen Smith, Sarah Queenan, Linda Thompson, Jemma Landels and Margaret Grant; hair – Wynd and Wave; backstage – Joan, Leigh, Alison, Hilary and Eilidh Wilson; scenery – Border Sutdios and Eyemouth Variety Group; front of house – Joyce Birne and friends.
The groups would like to thank all the loyal followers for their continuing support and local businesses too many to mention but without whom the show would not be possible.
Finally a word to the producers Pauline Grieve and Andrea Thacker.
A fantastic show with a record number of people who evidently love being a part of it. At a time when doom and gloom is paramount, you should be proud knowing that you provide a couple of hours of pure entertainment to the town of Eyemouth and beyond.
Here’s to ‘Annie’ in March – if this show is to be the benchmark than I for one just cannot wait, well done.
B.D.
