Southside Community Centre Adult Drama Group 29th November 2023 Review
The drama groups run by Rebecca Kilbey have been at Southside Community Centre, Nicolson Street, Edinburgh for many years now, and different groups cater for all ages from young children upwards.
Tonight’s two short works were performed by the adult drama group, some of whom have been with Rebecca and the group since they were members of the children’s drama group. That fact alone shows what a strong bond there is between Rebecca and her students.
The two performances this evening, “Las Vegas Wedding” and “Missing” are a little different from the usual annual show, as this year the members of the group have directed these works too.
Reviewing any drama group like this has to be in some ways a little different from a review of a professional company, as the reasons for anyone joining it are many and the dramatic abilities of individuals will always vary a lot. What is really important about any group like this is often not the end product but the participation in the group itself, the friendships formed there, and the confidence that groups like this give many people. Often they would never have performed in front of anyone let alone an audience before, and sometimes had little confidence in their own abilities to even read a line and speak it out aloud. Some people simply have more natural confidence and dramatic ability than others to start with and that was obvious in some scenes this evening. This is a review though and some comments do need to be made.
There are several things that a show like this is always going to face – no budget for props, costumes, set design being a few of them, so this was in some ways more like watching a rehearsal at times, but that does not matter as long as the basic buildings blocks of any theatrical performance are there, and to me that is always two things – words and performance. Everything starts with words (a good script), without them even the best performer can do little and without someone who can bring a script to life, words remain just that – words. The two are symbiotic to one another.
Both directors had a difficult job this evening as a story had to be told in a very short period of time. That means that in an ideal world there should be as few scenes as possible and a very focused introduction to who the principal characters are as there is almost no time to develop roles and personalities as you go along.
The two works, “Las Vegas Wedding” , written by the adult class in 2013 and directed by Pacian Clayton, and “Missing” written by the adult class in 2013 and directed by Sara Lally are very different from each other and give the performers (if in both) a chance to show how they handle very different roles and story lines. The works differ in effectiveness too. The first work “Las Vegas Wedding” does not identify or define characters clearly enough or quickly enough and misses opportunities to do that through dialogue, and despite some good efforts by the performers that lack of knowing exactly what the relationships between people are dulls the ending a little. By contrast, “Missing” keeps things far simpler, fewer characters and their interests and relationships to one another are defined right from the start and this allows for some nice character work by the performers.
As always, watching a drama group like this perform it is always interesting to watch what stage of development different people are at. Some seem to instinctively know that a performance is many things, the larger more expressive gestures required for a stage performance (very different from say the skills required for a close up scene on film), body language, facial expressions and how to use ones voice to get the most out of a script.
Everyone is in this group for different reasons. For some their participation is in itself a huge achievement, for others, if they want to consider a career in theatre, on stage, or in one of the many behind stage roles then this group is as good a starting point as any.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
Tonight’s two short works were performed by the adult drama group, some of whom have been with Rebecca and the group since they were members of the children’s drama group. That fact alone shows what a strong bond there is between Rebecca and her students.
The two performances this evening, “Las Vegas Wedding” and “Missing” are a little different from the usual annual show, as this year the members of the group have directed these works too.
Reviewing any drama group like this has to be in some ways a little different from a review of a professional company, as the reasons for anyone joining it are many and the dramatic abilities of individuals will always vary a lot. What is really important about any group like this is often not the end product but the participation in the group itself, the friendships formed there, and the confidence that groups like this give many people. Often they would never have performed in front of anyone let alone an audience before, and sometimes had little confidence in their own abilities to even read a line and speak it out aloud. Some people simply have more natural confidence and dramatic ability than others to start with and that was obvious in some scenes this evening. This is a review though and some comments do need to be made.
There are several things that a show like this is always going to face – no budget for props, costumes, set design being a few of them, so this was in some ways more like watching a rehearsal at times, but that does not matter as long as the basic buildings blocks of any theatrical performance are there, and to me that is always two things – words and performance. Everything starts with words (a good script), without them even the best performer can do little and without someone who can bring a script to life, words remain just that – words. The two are symbiotic to one another.
Both directors had a difficult job this evening as a story had to be told in a very short period of time. That means that in an ideal world there should be as few scenes as possible and a very focused introduction to who the principal characters are as there is almost no time to develop roles and personalities as you go along.
The two works, “Las Vegas Wedding” , written by the adult class in 2013 and directed by Pacian Clayton, and “Missing” written by the adult class in 2013 and directed by Sara Lally are very different from each other and give the performers (if in both) a chance to show how they handle very different roles and story lines. The works differ in effectiveness too. The first work “Las Vegas Wedding” does not identify or define characters clearly enough or quickly enough and misses opportunities to do that through dialogue, and despite some good efforts by the performers that lack of knowing exactly what the relationships between people are dulls the ending a little. By contrast, “Missing” keeps things far simpler, fewer characters and their interests and relationships to one another are defined right from the start and this allows for some nice character work by the performers.
As always, watching a drama group like this perform it is always interesting to watch what stage of development different people are at. Some seem to instinctively know that a performance is many things, the larger more expressive gestures required for a stage performance (very different from say the skills required for a close up scene on film), body language, facial expressions and how to use ones voice to get the most out of a script.
Everyone is in this group for different reasons. For some their participation is in itself a huge achievement, for others, if they want to consider a career in theatre, on stage, or in one of the many behind stage roles then this group is as good a starting point as any.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
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