‘Myths and Legends: The Intercollegiate Showcase’ review
'‘a great performance for a great cause’
The creative and musical directors of this year’s Intercollegiate Showcase, Damien Smith and Faith Gorton, did a great job of conveying the theme of ‘Myths and Legends’ with appropriately chosen extracts and musical numbers.
As the Compere, Emma Henderson had great diction and projection, with great comedic moments; she did a great job of entertaining the audience in between acts.
The showcase started off strong with a song from The Lightning Thief by Hild Bede Theatre. Two performers stood out, Erin Simpson as Percy with amazing vocals, and Daisy Holden as Katie with a sweet and lovely voice. However, the harmonies were sometimes off balance with one singer drowning out the other voices.
A standout act was Aristophane’s The Birds by Sixth Side, especially the second scene they performed. This was a highly comedic performance, that kept me engaged throughout. Great job to director Louis Rutman for putting together this superb piece of legendary comedy.
Oswald Players' rendition of Monty Python’s Spamalot was the most memorable and hilarious out of the performances, and honestly my favourite one; I would have happily watched the entire show with this cast. Lottie Goldthorpe was a standout for me with the coconuts. As the Lady of the Lake, Catriona Eke’s performance was absolutely stunning and captivating; every time she came on stage, she caught my attention, with her great character and passion. Well done to college director, Hannah Bradshaw, for brilliant casting and for leading a show-stealing performance.
The devised piece ‘Keeping up with the Olympians’, put together by Phoenix Theatre Company and directed by Moritz Afridi, was amongst the top acts. The comic elements were perfect, capturing the nature of reality shows. Someone who constantly made me laugh and kept my attention was Iris Varla, a standout performer with great comedic timing. Also, Loki’s monologue was spot on and one of my favourite moments of the whole show, the writing and portrayal were just amazing.
Moving on to Feather’s instalment of Little Shop of Horrors, Emma Rowson as Aubrey just blew me away. Her voice was beautiful, some of the best singing I have ever heard, and her characterisation was amazing. I was also happy to see Erin Simpson reappear in this number. This segment was great, although the choreography could have been of a slightly higher level, but nevertheless Molly Cowell, Emma Rowson and Alice Lim did a great job with it.
Snow Globe’s Hercules was a great act two opener. I could really see Lexi Praxel’s characterisation of Hercules come through with good vocals to complete the performance. Aaryn McDonald-Brown’s sassy interpretation of Meg paired with a powerful voice made it an outstanding number.
Rocket’s scene from Medea, directed by Oli Butler, had great pronunciation of the classical language and strong characterisation by Raphael Henrion and Olivia Saunders as Creon and Medea.
The first thing that caught my eye in Bailey Theatre Company’s extract from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was the glittery costume worn by Lenna Lyons- I loved it. Also, Titania’s headpiece paired with the strong performance from Elizabeth Skyes is to be applauded. Though I must say the performer that really stood out to me, was Hannah Andrews playing Puck - just wow! It was the best interpretation of the character I have ever seen, I am sure there are big things in this actor’s future, definitely one to look out for. This showed great vision and casting from director Dan Bavister.
While some costumes were slightly lacklustre, the beautiful blue dress worn by Cara Crofts in Antigone was spot on, along with Crofts’ great characterisation and strong performance. Bravo to Edward Clark for directing a piece that fit so nicely with the theme.
Hadestown ended the showcase with strong vocals and fun choreography. Lexi Praxel’s performance captivated me with great characterisation that fit the vibe of the act. Additionally, the red lights used in this number were great and really added to the atmosphere. It was a fantastic way to end the show.
A round of applause is also deserved for the production teams and producers for bringing this together, and a thank you to Foot of the Hill for heading this wonderful and mythic performance. The lighting throughout was simple and sweet, along with the staging, designed to keep attention on the performers. There were some blocking and staging issues throughout the show but all in all, it was a great performance, for a great cause. Everyone did a great job and everyone involved on and off stage should be very proud of themselves.
By Abby Clay.