SOUTH MORNINGSIDE PRIMARY’S Stage Club turned in a well rehearsed and expertly crafted evening of Shakespeare for the modern outlook last night at Edinburgh’s Churchhill theatre in Morningside Road.
Romeo and Juliet were first up with their internet romance enabled by laptops in the bedroom and mobiles in the back pocket. The young romantic leads, Adam Harrower and Aaliya Bradley, gave excellent performances with little trace of nerves and were well supported by their choruses of TAGS AND CAPS.
Several of the children appeared alone or in small groups on stage, performing with confidence and in some cases remarkable presence. A solitary child, Luke Pudney, filled the space created by the opening curtains and twice four children filled the space in front of the curtains. They were the organisers of the trouble-causing Masked Ball and the News Reporters. They broadcast with that well observed air of brashness and will this work expressions one sees on TV.
A Modern Midsummer Night’s Dream was second and yet again demonstrated that script’s adaptation-friendly nature. Writer Stephen James Martin had written a piece full of one-liners and directed his young cast to pitch perfect delivery. Naomi Wilson as Sharmain, Hermia to you and me, has a comic touch sometimes lacking in older performers. She also sang beautifully. Yossi Pechar was a superb Puck drawing the eye with star-quality ease.
The whole cast was word perfect and showed no panic when one or two sound cues caused hesitation early on. Excellent music, dancing and friendly war-of-the-sexes banter made this a remarkable production of a much loved play.
Congratulations to the whole back-up team who did a sterling job bringing this school production to a delighted audience of parents, rels, grannies and granddads. Martin’s scripts were a delight and the children’s appreciation of him when he took a reluctant curtain call was evident. But there was costume, make-up, dancing, stage-fighting and a fantastic lighting-score which all added to the overall professional feel.
Oh and two trays of ice-cream in the interval.
Friday and Saturday 12th-13th April at 7.30 pm