"Reprise" A retrospective

The first of my significant challenges of what promises to be a landmark week happened yesterday when we put the finishing touches to the performances for "Reprise" at the Theatre Royal.  There have been times over the last few weeks when I was sceptical as to whether it was possible to pull it all together and I was prepared for this show to be more fraught than usual however turns out I should have had faith in my youth theatre as their performances were, as I said on facebook, nothing short of wonderful.

Lets look at them in age order…first we had my very excellent Orange Company, a set of enormously talented 7 – 11 year olds who performed, “Giraffe’s Can’t Dance.”  Their pluck as they performed to almost 400 people was a joy to watch as they retold the story with talent and also with humour.  I held my breath almost all the way through, willing them to be as good as I know they are and they didn’t disappoint, they were a pleasure to behold.

Then we had Crimson, with a most thought provoking piece, “These Feet of Mine,” which was delivered with intelligence, self awareness and poise.  I liked its honesty, its directness and the way the company got the audience to think about who they are and what they are about by talking about their own world view.  Make sure you read their guest blog for more of an insight on their production.

Next in the age hierarchy was Gold Company who’s ensemble work is second to none, a talent showcased clearly in their, “A to Z of Shakespeare.”  Their ability to work as a team to entertain and inform was so impressive and this brilliance was multiplied by the sheer amount of people on stage.  I have loved watching their performance skills develop immeasurably over this year.  They looked excellent too and along with Crimson and Black were invaluable in helping the younger children from both YTYT and West Yorkshire Dance Centre.

Finally Black Company produced something so very poignant from the ruins of a number of ideas.  Their production was so touching I was told by a number of people that it had made them cry.  It’s amazing how much of an impact a simple love story told with integrity can have.  Also for the academics amongst you, it was a great example of the power of semiotics.

I’m also going to give a sneaky mention to the senior drama company of Sarah T’s who, with a guest appearance from Mirv performed Giselle with a huge investment of their soul.  I was delighted with the piece that emerged out of such an initially sketchy idea. 

It’s worth mentioning that in some ways the value of the pieces as a collection was greater than each individual one as they showed such a range of the possibilities within youth theatre…that it can be entertaining, affecting, powerful, informative, thought provoking and even haunting…plus a good many other things as well.  I’m so very happy I get to be part of it on a daily basis…

PS… Dance is great too as demonstrated with incredible talent and flair by the exceptional dancers of West Yorkshire Theatre Dance…from the smallest to the tallest!