projection. It is true for other dramatic disciplines of musicals and pantomime and often they are helped by the use of a microphone, especially if they are in competition with music. Drama, in my opinion is different and actors need to have opportunities to project their voices into the auditorium so they can be clearly heard, without shouting. I cannot begin to count the amount of times I have stood at the back of a theatre or school hall, holding my ears and projecting “I cannot hear you”. If some of the performers are a little unclear as to what I mean, I suggest they listen to the delivery of Michael Brickell and Ned Evans as there was clarity, intensity and some expression in their delivery. Play 2: Grandma’s are very cool Theme – Holiday Written by George Partington Directed by Chloe Croke Life experiences very often help a writer establish the content, direction and staging of their script. Here, I could well believe that George Partington, who wrote and led this piece, had experienced a holiday that involved the chaotic animation scenes that many of us have experienced on holiday. The games that we are enticed to join in with during the evening entertainment. This play included audience involvement in so much as there was a requirement for some on stage to go out into the audience for shoes and to bring people onto stage. This did provide some joviality to the evening. If I can offer a little advice, I would just suggest that if this is necessary then it would be advisable to have prepared certain people prior to the production and have them strategically seated as it does alter the flow of the piece. I know we use this in pantomime to get audience participation but we rarely use it in plays. Play 3: Struggles on Isle School Theme: In a school, waiting for an exam Written by Freddy Shaw Directed by Harry Melling I am intrigued by Freddy’s experiences at school as some of the satire and depictions of a teacher’s thoughts as we get older did seem a little accurate. I wonder if any relatives teach or that he is very perceptive. Either way, I did raise a wry smile at the portrayal of the aging teacher by Martha Evans. The writing, while being larger than life, did have elements that we all recognise from our own experiences; favouritism, grading, shouting and teachers that seem to have lost the plot or given up and have little energy. I did think that the inclusion of the escaped class pet chameleon was a little bonkers but then I remembered when I taught a Year 3 class, we had class stick insects that would escape and we would be half way through lessons and they were crawling over books. Or the class hamster that would escape at night and we would find it because it had walked on an ink pad and left little footprints around the room. When I thought of that, it didn’t seem so bonkers at all. The inclusion of music by Culture Club did fit well.
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