Markyate Amateur Dramatics Society

Since Christmas, St. John’s church has slowly morphed into a theatre mainly due to the strenuous efforts of Geoff Bottrill, Bob Lambert and friends.

 

It is very difficult to convey in words the enthusiasm, fun and hard work that goes into the production of our pantomimes.  The performers, from the youngest to the more mature, put their hearts and souls into their roles – the small stars with the Star Fairy (Jenny Lewis) and the little devils got very excited as good and evil vied for supremacy whilst Rissoto (Phil Stonelake) made a wonderful dame mellowing from a hard mistress to a loving mother! Adam Lewis, as Pinocchio, made the transition from puppet to boy with the help of the small stars but could not have managed without the help of his conscience, Jiminy Cricket (Ken Rangel).

 

The circus scene rocked the building with noise and marching.  There were acrobats, tightrope walkers, trapeze artistes and, of course, the clowns all performing in a cleverly erected Big Top.  What can be said about the clowns?  They were both naughty and nice with sterling performances from Kate Heseltine and Tony Tate despite the fact that they did take the Devil’s bag of gold to lead Pinocchio into trouble.  Ron Basciano played the Devil and was subjected to many boos and hisses!

 

Markyate News Corporation newscast by Angela Rippoff (Jacky Gurney) reported mischievous happenings in the village.  The Roving Reporter (Roy Roberts) showed film of the mischief the clowns had persuaded Pinocchio to commit as well as what had really happened.  The episode ended with a brief appearance of Mark Green our PSCO arresting the bogus policeman!

 

A nice touch was the screening of village businesses being advertised by ‘Shirl and Jean’ before the performance began.

 

A good time was had by all with the audience doing their bit.  “Oh no they didn’t!”  “Oh yes they did!”