A Saunter On The Moors | The Reason I've Been Gone So Long

Hello Everyone!

Oh gosh, I haven't posted anything in almost two months.

For the last eight weeks, I devoted my life to six rehearsals a week for my school's senior drama production of Wuthering Heights.

Wuthering Heights... Wuthering being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather.

The demanding rehearsal schedule didn't put me off though. Although it seems like a hell of a lot of time to give up for a school play, they have been performed to such a high standard over years and built such a huge reputation that it would seem silly not to put so much time and effort in.

Now that it is all over, it doesn't seem like it was that much time at all. In fact, we've only been closed two days and I already feel as though I have too much spare time. 

Last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we brought April De Angelis', adaptation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights to the Alnwick Playhouse stage.

This is the 5th school production I've been in, but only the first senior production, and my, what an experience it has been!

I was playing Frances, wife of Hindley Earnshaw who he randomly brought back to the Heights. I also died. 

Be warned Mr Lockwood, people have a habit of dying in this tale.

I'll admit at first I was apprehensive... I was nervous about looking silly, but being in a room full of actors it was a stupid thing to be worried about! I came out of my shell and had such a fantastic time. 

Being in a cast of less than twenty, we all grew so close. By the end were were like one big family!

The three performances were honestly the most fun I'd had in years, and I was so sad to see it all come to an end.

Before the last night of the show, people joked that I had a heart of stone because I was the only female member of the cast that hadn't cried during rehearsals, but I was a blubbering wreck on Friday. I do have a soul!

Eight weeks of blood, sweat and tears had finally come to an end. It was the last time we were all to be together as a cast, and for some of us, including myself, our last ever senior production. T'was emotional to say the least.

Performing Wuthering Heights has helped me understand the story so much better, and everyone did their character justice. I'm not just saying this because I was in it and I think we were amazing anyway, but it was 100 times better than your average school play. We put in 110% everytime we performed and it all payed off in the end. The praise we have been getting from peers, teachers and members of the public has been phenomenal.

I really must thank everyone who was involved, our director and assistant director, the people who made our costumes, which were FANTASTIC, the sound and lighting crew, the set designers and the backstage lot. None of this would've been possible without you.

Since I'm in my final year of school, its more than likely that I won't be acting with this amazing bunch again (unless I do Return to the Forbidden Planet haha!) so I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who made this experience as amazing as it was. I love you all.

Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.

Girt eedle seeght! xx

© Images by Amber Brown and Otello Calvert

A feline fantasy: CATS the musical.

There's something not quite right about humans dressing up as cats. They always seem to make a poor effort. Some black clothing, a little black nose and a few small whiskers. This was not the case last night however.

I had never seen CATS before, but I had heard somewhat mixed reviews about it, yet the Senior Youth Theatre at Alnwick Playhouse did not disappoint.

Walking into the auditorium was quite a shock. Some of the cast were already in character prowling around. One even came up and hissed at us as we walked in to find our seats!

What amazed me was that they managed to stay in character the whole time. With one 'cat' staying in character whilst one audience member tickled their neck- it was rather surreal.

The cast of CATS.

If I'm being completely honest, before seeing the show I didn't understand the story line at all, and even afterwards I still wasn't 100% on what I had just been watching. All I took away from it was that Deuteronomy disappeared and then reappeared, they all hated Grizabella the 'one time glamour cat', and she was the one chosen to be reborn. A rather confusing story line if you could call it a story line at all.

With all of that put aside, it was still an amazing show; a real visual treat. The set was as if it was a back alley, with dustbins, old tyres and old boards. Somewhere you could really imagine alley cats roaming about.

The costumes were even better, and in my personal opinion, the best costumes the Youth Theatre has ever had. Not only did they have the catsuits with tails and spray painted to make them look like real cats, they had individual face paints to give each of their cats a unique character. The makeup and costume department really did go all out.

Becca Gray, Emily Hope and Emily Pearse were a great trio as Bombalurina, Jellylorum and Demeter,  staying in character throughout, and their harmonies were top notch, in one song reminding me of Christina Aguilera's Candy Man.

Arthur Mills as Mungojerrie and Catherine Walker as Rumpleteaser really did light up the stage with the comedy duo act, and their realistic east London accents fit the part well. Their character on stage left the audience smiling and laughing throughout their scenes.

Anna Tucker was flawless as Grizabella, and her rendition of Memory, about her wish to start a new life sent shivers down my spine as she hit the high notes with ease. Definitely someone to watch out for in the future. A British Taylor Swift perhaps?

Obviously I have to mention charismatic tom cat Rum Tum Tugger,  executed effortlessly by Toby Hope, who left the audience wanting more of his, tail shaking and swagger. Hope stood out as one of the strongest members of the cast with his stage presence alone.

Others who stood out were Lexy Bee for her incredible dancing and Chris Richardson for his delightful singing voice.

Of course it would be rude to not mention the rest of the cast, who were all fantastic. Their mannerisms really  did make you believe they were actual cats. They had even perfected the little things such as the way their turn their head, and the way they would stretch, it really was interesting to watch them all.

Not every single dance move and note was hit exactly, but hey, that is just me being extremely critical. Considering this show was put together on one rehearsal per week alone, by an amateur group,  it was near professional standard.

A massive hats off to director Cheryl Stewart for managing to pull off such a challenging production- the hard work really payed off! Visually their best production yet.

I'm now off to repeat the same line of Mister Mistoffelees over and over whilst I practice trying to walk with  a bit more grace.

© Photographs by Amber Brown and Helen Ellis