Some of our team have been working with a multi-agency team led by Childrens Services at Torbay Council, at St Cuthbert Mayne School in Torquay, as part of the 16 Days of Action, raising awareness of coercive and abusive behavior, and how to seek help. 

Our contribution at the school was for two of our team, to work with the students, through drama workshops, to create a play based on students experiences. This will be performed back to the school during 2020. 

Following the success of our production of Macbeth, our two youngest cast from that show, Mollie and Joe, were in a production of Little Shop of Horrors at their school in Torquay, Spires College. A number of us from the Macbeth team, attended to support them, and see their show.

  What a brilliant performance! Joe Northstone played the most incredible Seymour, and Mollie Pass was an amazing Ronette, while Ash Mackintosh was everywhere - chorus, stagehand and puppeteer at different times.
They were joined by a fantastic, talented teenage cast, and live band, whose characterisation, focus, and performance skills were more than worthy of a professional stage. The singing, dancing, choreography, everything was flawless.
On the whole, I am not a fan of comedy, but Alex Taylor also had me in uncontrolled stitches of laughter as the dentist Orin, and the journalist - the exuberant confidence in some quite challenging performance was more than many adults would manage! Stacey Glover played a wonderfully convincing anxious Audrey (and what a great American accent!!), Dylan Kellys voice-overs were so well done that we didnt realise they were being performed live, until we met him!

I pick these actors out but honestly everyone in that show was incredible. It was very easy to forget that you were watching pupils of the school, in their school production. It would grace any stage anywhere.

And it was also a joy to realise that in order to achieve such brilliant work, the school staff too, must be incredibly supportive of their students, and motivated to help them achieve excellence (which they did!) when so often the arts, and theatre, end up sidelined.

I hope that all of the young people I saw performing tonight, continue to pursue acting, dancing and/or singing. Whether as a hobby or as a profession, depending on their aspirations and preferred career choices. Because all of them were truly wonderful.

Thank you to all the performers, and the school, for a magical, and hilarious evening.

Laura

Our production of Macbeth at Torquay went as well as the Brixham shows did, with more excellent feedback. A local newspaper reporter, Bob Jope, attended to review the production - here is a link to his glowing review:
Macbeth in Torbay
while other audience feedback and reviews on social media was just as encouraging.