|
The Barony Players
SCDA
reports
Adjudicator's Marks The Barony Players - Dead Guilty by Richard Harris Acting 27/40 Direction 22/35 Stage Presentation 14/15 General Achievement 7/10 Total Marks 70/100
A first class setting. Well designed and constructed set with solid staircase and doors offering ample acting areas on two levels with five entrances; well dressed set giving a ‘lived in’ look. Good coverage from lighting and lighting cues well handled. Appropriate costume. Good choice of music for scene drops, though fade music under start of scene rather than cut. Technically superb. A very atmospheric start with the car crash, spot on Julia and the voice of the Coroner. Pace well established with an appropriate light touch from Gary. More variety and a lighter touch needed at times, and there was a tendency for the players to use a very similar tone and pitch, not allowing the conversations to flow naturally; differences between ‘throwaway’ lines and more intense revelations were required e.g. the comment about cuttings from the garden was given the same level of intensity as the statement that Julia thought that she had seen John. There was also a tendency for succeeding scenes to begin on the same note and at the same level as the preceding one. The pace was maintained well but tended to be rather deliberate; a lighter touch used early on would have made a greater contrast with the ominous moments evident later in the Act - the confrontations between Julia and Gary lifted the pace and delivered the required level of emphasis, showing what had been lacking in some of the earlier sequences. Good movement and positioning: though Julia necessarily had to spend a great deal of time sitting, perhaps a few more opportunities for Margaret and Anne to provide more movement could have been taken. Nevertheless there were some excellent sequences: the build from Gary’s entrance, the scarf business, and the reactions on touching Julia’s hand were beautifully handled; very effective use of the slowly opening door, the backlighting and the appearance of the hand made an excellently spine-chilling end to Act 1. A good pace was established in Act 2; It was sometimes difficult to maintain the impetus and tension because of the series of very short scenes, but nevertheless many of the key moments managed to create the necessary effect – as evidenced by the audience reaction; the well-handled argument between Gary and Julia achieved the pace, tone and emphasis required; an excellent outburst from Gary; the mounting impatience of Julia was well conveyed in her occasional flare-ups as was her gradual deterioration; Margaret’s final long speech worked well but required a more biting pace and more variation in delivery – the only real touch of emphasis was the hissed “I hate you!”. The final stages were taken well, and the final tableau and giving of evidence was very well done, with a lovely final moment as the light faded on Margaret’s smile. Julia: a very good portrayal of somebody passing through impatience and anger into complete disintegration. Margaret: a rather deliberate delivery needed more variety and flexibility of expression, but her underlying threat was conveyed. Gary: natural and spontaneous delivery; an impressive portrayal. Anne: a practical and down-to-earth portrayal. All the necessary elements of the thriller were present in this production, though what was missing at times in the first Act was variety and pace; a contrasting treatment of Acts 1 and 2 would have lulled the audience even more. However, the performance dramatically held attention and put across the threat in the situation.
Adjudicator's Marks The Barony Players - Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde Acting 30/40 Direction 24/35 Stage Presentation 13/15 General Achievement 7/10 Total Marks 74/100
Well designed and solidly constructed sets for each act with stylish furniture and furnishings, though the placing of furniture in each act tended to force the acting area downstage and into the corners, which led to some occasional awkward positioning and grouping. Excellent costumes and makeup. Lighting with rather dark spots DR and DL, but otherwise good. A good pace was set from the beginning, though perhaps a lighter more flirtatious touch was needed during Lady W and Darlington’s duologue to make a greater contrast with the comparative awkwardness and stiffness between the later Lord and Lady W conversation. The DSR positioning of the settle meant that Lady Windermere spent some time facing upstage whenever she was seated, and at times there was a similarity of moves across a DS strip of stage, but in general there was some good positioning and movement. In Act 2 the position of the seat dead C tended to confine most of the movement to the outer edges and prevented the guests spreading across the stage. Pace well maintained; possibly an occasional burst of laughter and conversation from the guests would have helped to fill some quiet moments; there was a lovely silence and sense of anticipation on Mrs Erlynne’s entrance, and an excellently handled protestation of love from Darlington. Act 3 had another fine set, though again the furniture tended to force the action to a DS strip (consider setting the furniture on diagonals, and making moves around behind the furniture); there was a greater use of the depth of the stage during the scene between Lady W and Mrs E which allowed very good use of movement and positioning. This scene was strongly played, with Mrs Erlynne’s story of the misery of being an outcast particularly well handled. A great atmosphere of ‘all men together’ during the succeeding scene, though an even lighter touch to point Wilde’s epigrams could have been used; there was a good build and climax on Lord Windermere’s outburst of anger. Act 4 was very well handled, with a strong confrontation of Lord W and Mrs E and a very good finish. Pace throughout was good, though delivery at times was rather deliberate and more variation of pitch, tone and emphasis was sometimes needed; a slightly lighter touch - even during more serious situations - generally works well with Wilde. A good range of characters, with some well developed characterisations. Strong teamwork and discipline throughout. Lady Windermere: poised, with good delivery. Lord Windermere: very positive with well-judged delivery; a fine performance. Mrs Erlynne: controlled; very poised and expressive. Lord Darlington: a very sincere and thoughtful performance. Duchess of Berwick: very assured; good attack; a lovely characterisation. Lord Augustus: controlled; enjoyable playing; good delivery. Lady Agatha: enjoyable ‘put-upon’ playing. Cecil Graham: supportive playing; a nice twinkle in the eye. Lady Plymdale: strong playing with good projection. Dumby: good projection; delightfully pompous; very assured. Mr Hopper: very natural playing. Lady Jedburgh: a pleasing performance. Lady Stutfield, Sir James, Miss Graham etc: though in comparatively minor roles, offered good support. Rosalie: lively assured playing; made her mark in a short appearance.Parker: the perfect dependable butler. Footman: quietly dependable; luxuriant side-whiskers! Though not always hitting the heights, this was a thoroughly workmanlike and agreeable production of a challenging play.
Adjudicator's Marks The Barony Players - The Slab Boys by John Byrne Acting 33/40 Stage Presentation 14/15 Direction 26/35 General Achievement 8/10
4th place Very well designed and solidly constructed set providing a good acting area with three entrances including a staircase, and suggesting further areas off - stage. Very occasional masking by position of solid DS slab/ benches but minimal interference to action positioning. Very well dressed with excellent properties. Good general lighting; dull area DR of C due to blown bulb. very good and appropriate costume (loved the red and yellow socks) and make up. The whole stage was very well used throughout, with plenty of natural and well motivated movement and positioning. A cracking pace was established at the start and maintained well at all times, with lively free flowing dialogue and good responses with very natural emphasis, timing and use of pause. Well defined and observed characters. Perhaps Hector needed to be a bit less gormless and show a touch more gumption to make his appointment to a desk seem a likely outcome, and in the final stages Alan's strength came out and his almost nasty side was revealed well, but to be totally confincing, the stronger elements of his character should be emphasised earlier to let us see why he seems so attracted to Lucille. Every character must be convincing and realistic, and at times a tighter reign was needed to prevent slight veering towards 'comedy character' though in terms of pleasing the audience the portrayals were fine. Every character seemed very familiar with equipment and processes and there was some notable well-planned business put across with a great sense of fun: the bandaged Hector's appearance at the window and his hands appearing over the cupboard door, for example. Some very sensitively handled : Phil's outburst to Alan about Hector; Phil's "What do you know...?" speech; the well handled Phil/Lucille exchange. The final stages were extremely well handled, with strong finales from Alan, Sparky and Phil and a great cartwheel finish. Excellent teamwork throughout, with characters interacting well. Not always a consistent approach to the characterisation, and some over playing, but in general the comedy worked extremely well. Spanky : assured and expressive, with spontaneous well timed dialogue; a great sense of humour. Hector: a delightfully spirited characterisation that raised all the laughter it richly deserved, though watch out for occasionally over-done shifting of the feet. Phil: spontaneous and confident, showing a good contrast between the comic and sincere aspects of the character: an excellent performance.Willie : a natural and believable character; perhaps slightly subdued at times but with a very strong finish. Jack: a natural and very pleasing performance in what could have been an unsympathetic role. Alan : very smooth and suave throughout ; strongly realised character in the later stages. Sadie: a very natural and enjoyable portrayal ; very expressive with great attack. Lucille : direct, tough and earthy, a very believable performance. An enthusiastic, confident, lively and fast moving production , thoroughly enjoyable throughout.
|
Full Length Play Festival
November
2010