A Class Act |
A Class Act's web site is at
a-class-act.co.uk.
Last production
Scurrilous, 20th to 22nd May 2010
“On one night two lives are changed forever”. Dave, Wendy and
Christine are best friends and have been all their school years, never missing
an opportunity to play during holidays and weekends. The girls love to dance and
believe that one day they will make it all the way to the bright lights of
London. Christine is a big girl though and just loves her food and without some
dramatic intervention is never going to be good enough to make it as a dancer
she is also a very sarcastic girl and thrives on being the nasty person in the
group. Wendy however is a talented dancer and loves dance so much that she bears
taking her overweight friend along to dance classes for the sake of the
friendship. Dave Baron is a rough lad who dreams of joining the army when he
leaves school; Wendy is besotted with Dave and believes she will marry him one
day. Cara and Paris are two girls in the same tutor group who are extremely
dotty but also love to dance and also love to be able to offend and fight
whenever the chance arises as it does when Christine and Cara come to blows
outside a dance class. Fast forward to one night many years in the future and
Dave Baron is on patrol in Helmand Province when his unit comes under attack.
Dave is seriously injured in the ensuing fire fight and needs urgent treatment
and is flown out of the battle zone; at the very same time many miles away in
England Wendy and Christine have both made it through to the ranks of
professional dancers. Christine the one time ugly duckling is now the beautiful
swan and lead dancer in a new show about to start a dress rehearsal. During the
opening number towards the end she is lifted high into the air by her dance
partner John but a terrible error by him and he drops her onto her head. The
rehearsal is immediately stopped and Christine is whizzed by ambulance into
hospital where she is to be treated for spinal injuries. Many weeks later and
Dave who by now has been returned to England is brought out of his induced coma
only to find his one time friend is also being treated in the same hospital.
Over a period of time Dave and Christine are slowly brought together by their
injuries much to the disgust of Wendy who becomes totally irrational and
psychotic as she thinks Dave has promised himself to her. It is announced though
that Dave and Christine are to marry but will they both make it up the aisle
unaided, will Wendy have put a stop to Christine ever walking again, will John
be forgiven for that huge mistake? A big night out at a curry house in
Birmingham reveals all.
Where
Review of Scurrilous
20th to 22nd May 2010.
Review from the Newbury Weekly News.
Making it through the ranksA Class Act Theatre Company: Scurrilous, at Arlington Arts, Snelsmore, from May 20 to 22 In David Slade's latest production, Scurrilous, the action started with an explosive scene set in Afghanistan, full of terrific energy and drama, with the actors in full impressive kit. Here a soldier was injured and eventually airlifted to the UK. Next, back in this country, we witnessed a dance troupe in rehearsal, where a female dancer was dropped during a lift and spinally injured. So the scene was set and by the use of flashback, using young actors to play the roles of the two injured and their peer group, theirs and their families stories unfolded. Writing an original piece of theatre is a considerable achievement - to bring it to the stage even more so. There were lots of good ideas and many interesting characters for the young and mature cast members to enjoy and it was good to see so many young people in the cast alongside a considerable adult contingent - they all entered into the piece with spirit and enthusiasm. Shaun Blake as Dave the injured soldier and Alice Robins as the injured dancer Christine - both had difficult roles but handled them thoughtfully and well. Emily Griffiths proved to be a thoroughly nasty piece of work as Wendy and praise to the actors playing the younger selves - Lewis Cooke (Dave) Lorren Allen (Christine) and Louella Wilson (Wendy) and also to all the gang. Many others gave good performances and it is impossible to single them out, but well done. Sasha Robaczynski in her choreographing debut should be proud of her achievements. Inventive routines and well-rehearsed dancers added highlights to the finished result. The set was open and scenes simply set by the use of props and furniture. Lighting, by Vicky Allen, created good atmosphere and the sound effects and helicopter voice-overs added authenticity. So much incredible hard work must have gone on to bring this production to fruition - from the initial concept and writing to the rehearsals and technical elements. For me. however, the whole production did not gel well. There were many sub-plots which sometimes distracted from the main thrust of the storyline and often these were a little corny. The solo songs felt incongruous, both in their placing and the sentiment delivered and while I saw the need to lift the rather serious plot with comedy, this is difficult, and this too, occasionally, jarred. Despite these criticisms, it was a considerable achievement and a great credit to all concerned. TREVOR DOBSON |
Previous Productions
A Christmas with A Class Act, 12th December 2009
Kelly's Eye, 12th to 14th February 2009. See the review in
the Archive.
Azure (Blue) How Do You Feel?, 27th to 30th June 2007. See the review in the Archive.
Bart Street, 27th to 29th October 2005. See the review in the Archive.
The Third Tunnel, 24th to 26th June 2004. See the review in the Archive.
A Back Stage Pass, 22nd to 24th May 2003. See the review in the Archive.
About us
A Class Act Performing Arts Theatre Company was founded in late 2002.
Our aim is to give all ages the chance to perform together and create theatre of a high calibre. There are not many companies in this area that regularly carry out this idea. Indeed many operate this only on a one off basis or only bi-annually, however
A Class Act Performing Arts
Theatre Company will always endeavour to have our adults and children working on projects in theatre together or on their own.
Juniors from age 10 years are welcome and we have police checked chaperones available during rehearsal and production times.