Spectacular performance by Playbox
- 13 minutes ago
- 5 min read
The Mysteries adapted and developed from the Medieval Mystery Cycles, Performed by Playbox Theatre at The Dream Factory, Warwick from 2 to 4 April, today at 2pm and 7pm. Creation and Doomsday Directed by Emily Quash, Passion Directed by Mary King.
Review by Ann Evans
Incredible! Sensational! Inspirational! I honestly can’t praise this production enough. With a cast of 60, their ages ranging from around 3 to 18 performed the most epic of stories. In three acts we saw Playbox’s wonderful recreation of the Medieval Mystery Cycles – Creation, Passion and Doomsday. Putting their hearts and souls into this, we watched the creation of the world, major stories from the Bible; Christ’s life, crucifixion and resurrection; on to Satan, hell and finally Doomsday.
In each of these three acts, these young performers take on their roles with total commitment and fabulous acting, holding nothing back. From those playing the major roles to the youngest such as the two toddlers representing the first of the newborns that Herod kills after the birth of Jesus; and the little ones, dead in their mother’s arms in the holocaust, and the mothers themselves – incredible acting from people so young.
The Directors guiding these youngsters are inspired with their vision and daring – and that inspiration is clearly rubbing off on generation after generation of young actors. Playbox productions just seem to get better and better. Emily Quash directed Creation and Doomsday and Mary King directed Passion. Assistant directors were Kelly Dunham-Bourne, Sophia Handford, Charlie Smith, Leona Delahaye and Poppy Thomas.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only person in the audience with tears in their eyes at so many different moments in the show.
With such a large cast the choreography and movement was impressive. Often the scenes were of panic and terror, but were so well rehearsed the cast ran, slid, rolled and leapt over one another in brilliantly organised chaos. Then in the blinking of an eye, the pace might change, there might be peace, or a scene in slow motion which was so effective. Great work by the backstage Production Team for the set and costume design, the lighting, the sounds, the music, the haunting wisps of smoke – except down in hell where the smoke billowed and souls writhed in torment.
There were so many brilliant moments in this play, often the simplest of acts created the most memorable of effects such as Jesus played wonderfully by Eve Hatz, walking in slow motion through the dark, shining a light on lost souls in hell – spellbinding! And in the first act, God, played majestically by Hayden-James Mulcock when he first commands “Let there be Light”. If we don’t see this young man on the Shakespearean stage in the next few years, I’d be surprised.
There’s music, not just the carefully selected music and sound effects to accompany the action, but live band music developed in rehearsals. There’s singing, dancing – joyful folk dancing with the entire cast dressed in white, which ends as abruptly as it starts, and the stage is plunged into darkness except for the figure of God as he begins his creation of the world.
Then the cast transform into oceans with their movements becoming waves; followed by the creation of animals. The first tear-jerker for me, was when God smiles and touches the head of a crocodile-like beast and that’s followed by an elephant and chimps, birds and butterflies – then man.
The contrasts between good and evil are represented dramatically. The temptation of Eve by the serpent in the garden of Eden was superb. Ten actors holding hands, led by Conor Davis, each ‘segment’ of the writhing serpent looking demonic, slowly winding and twisting through the garden. But when the deed is done, the apple bitten into and God’s wrath let rip, these ten snake ‘segments’ are instantly cast to the ground to slither away on their stomachs.
In later scenes we meet Satan and I have to say, Satan is played wickedly (literally wickedly) by Tom Quash. Speaking to Tom (who also played Noah) after the show, I asked him how he enjoyed the role of the devil. He replied: “It was so much fun! It’s such a crazy character, it was amazing. Rehearsals were quite stressful but so much fun and we have great directors – including my mum! And this is such a lovely company to be involved in.”
Of course, one of the most important scenes was the crucifixion of Christ, which was incredible and heartbreaking. An absolutely outstanding performance by Eve Hatz as she took on the agony of Christ, carrying that heavy cross on her back and the entire ordeal of that scene right down to the timing of her cries of agony as whips lash out at her. As for the crucifixion as Jesus is nailed to the cross - it's heart wrenching.
Later I spoke to 18-year-old Eve about the role of playing Jesus and being part of the Playbox company. She said: “I’ve been at Playbox since I was 12, and last year I played Electra in the production 'Electra' which was so much fun. Playing Jesus has made a massive difference to me, I have changed my way of considering things massively.”
Commenting on how other members of the cast interacted with her character, she agreed that all of the cast have put so much into this production. “Whether you’re religious or not, everyone has put their all into it. And yes, that cross is heavy!” Good humouredly she added, “I have a massive bruise on my back from that cross!”
Personally, I’ve never interviewed God before, so it was an unmissable opportunity to speak to 17-year-old Hayden James Mulcock after the performance. Incidentally he also plays the high priest Annas who was involved in sentencing Jesus to death – so two powerful but very different roles from this young man who only started acting last September.
“This is the first show that I’ve done,” said Hayden. “I only joined Playbox last September and missed the first auditions. They then had a workshop, and I was asked to audition after taking part in that. The whole experience has been amazing, and this is what I want to be doing.”
Great performances by every single actor, who all deserve a mention, but naming a few others we have Adam played by Sam Almond and Eve played by Pendo Goma, Mary Mother (Hannah Keyte), Mary Magdalen (Millie Taylor), Herod (Milo Aggiss), Judas (Conor Davis), Pilate (Lucy Griffiths), Young Jesus (Mila Bassi).
So a two-hour production that held the audience transfixed from start to finish. These young people truly put their hearts into this production, they could not have acted, spoken, sang or played any better than they did. Fabulous performances all round, great work by the Production Team and everyone involved including the parents who take their children to rehearsals, they should all be very proud.
For more about Playbox Theatre go to :https://www.playboxtheatre.com
Comments