Thurso Players go through to Highland community drama final
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
THURSO Players A team will go forward to the Highland divisional final of one-act plays after winning the Caithness district round of the 88th Scottish Community Drama Association (SCDA) festival.
And there was good news too for Wick Junior Players whose divisional entry, Streuth, went on to win the Highland Youth Festival.
Thurso A's Forget, written and directed by Faye Sutherland, with Alan Newton as the stage manager, featured a cast of just two characters – Annie, played by Emily Taylor, and Martin, played by Martin Shepherd.
Adjudicator Brian Marjoribanks, who made his TV debut in Dr Finlay's Casebook, said the two characters in the play maintained his interest in it particularly well.
He explained that the short play read in 12 different scenes and he felt the longer ones were "extremely well written".
Mr Marjoribanks initially was worried whether the audience would identify with the play as he thought it was perhaps better written for television and wondered how the team would handle it.
The play is set in the couple's apartment and the adjudicator said he liked the placing of the kitchen sink, which added a touch of class, while the sound effects for the kettle boiling were quite original.
He felt the production had a rhythm to it, with the two characters proving very effective.
Commenting on the charisma of the actors, he said: "Martin, you established the character very well, extremely effective. Your clarity was excellent, you got the emotion into it, you have a lovely talent there.
"Annie had some very touching moments in her performance. She had a lovely contrast with the aggression in her part."
The play told the story of a couple going through some marital problems and it started with them returning to their apartment after something bad happening: an accidental death (but the audience is left wondering just what has taken place).
Left with the choice of two scenarios, the production has a very dramatic finish with the death of Annie.
As well as receiving the Adam Swanson Memorial Trophy for the winning play, Thurso Players A were awarded the Calcott Innes Quaich for the highest acting points and the Margaret Sinclair Shield for the highest direction mark.
Runners-up were the Wick Junior Players with their very humorous version of Streuth, by Michael Green, directed by Jayden Alexander, with David Hornsby as stage manager.
The adjudicator said: "This play was obviously based on coarse acting. I thought I would need to explain that to the audience, but saw I did not need to."
He thought the young cast handled the play very well and he liked the set – the furniture on stage was in exactly the right places.
"The lighting had to be good and the cues absolutely perfect, and I thought they were," Mr Marjoribanks said.
The music at the beginning, and the way the curtains opened and closed in tune with it, he liked enormously and felt it was beautifully thought out.
Streuth is a whodunnit involving performances deliberately designed to go wrong and plenty of extremely funny touches, such as the head of the dummy/murder victim falling off and being quickly kicked out of the way.
With a cast of 10, the characters were complimented on their groupings and the projection of their voices, which earned them bonus points.
The adjudicator said: "Every time someone came on it gave the play a little lift, and that is supposed to happen."
He said there were some lovely performances throughout, including the inspector played by Alan Plowman, Mr Darcy, Leo Beaumont, who had a good vocal range, the solid performance of the vicar played by Kate Mackay, and the prompt, Kirstin Gunn, who created a believable character.
Summing up, Mr Marjoribanks said: "Overall this was a major challenge for a young team... Despite a wee bit of overacting now and then, I could live with that."
Wick Junior Players received a number of trophies, including the Dr Ian Fell Trophy for the runners-up and the Old Mill Trophy for the best set outwith the winning play. As subsequent winners of the youth division they also took the Walford Trophy for senior section, the EML Trophy for best stage presentation and the Edward Nicol Trophy for best ensemble playing.
The third and final play on the night was 54% Acrylic, by David Harrower, by arrangement with Nick Hern Books, presented by Thurso Players B, directed by Audrey O'Brien, with Alison Gerrard as the stage manager.
This production, featuring two main characters on stage and the voice of a supervisor, told the story of a shoplifting incident in a department store.
Gerry, the store detective, was played by Glyn Jackson; Marion, the shoplifter, was played by Lauren Nicol; and Kane Cameron was the voice behind the supervisor.
The adjudicator said it was a play full of tension and drama, and he thought it was an excellent choice. He liked the modern stage, although he thought it had a Jekyll and Hyde effect at times, stating that the set should always support the acting and not the other way round.
Production-wise, he thought it was very well handled and the actors created believable characters.
Mr Marjoribanks said: "I thought it was an extremely powerful ending. I think you could have heard a pin drop."
He felt that Marion had a "lovely sparkle" to her performance and he fully believed in her, while the security supervisor had a good sense of humour and Gerry had a very good vocal range coming through, but overall he felt the production had a lack of pace.
The Highland divisional final will be held in Thurso High School on March 27-28, with Thurso Players A drawn to go last.
Meanwhile, Wick Junior Players will compete at the Scottish youth final in Bathgate. They have also been invited to perform at the Highland divisional final.
