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Volume 1 (1999/2000)
Issue
1 (March 1999)
Issue
2 (Nov. 1999)
Issue 3 (Dec. 1999)
Issue 4 (Feb. 2000)
Issue 5 (March 2000)
Issue 6 (April 2000)
Issue
7 (May 2000)
Volume 2 (2000/2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2000)
Issue 2 (Oct. 2000)
Issue 3 (Jan. 2001)
Issue 4 (March 2001)
Issue 5 (April 2001)
Issue 6 (May 2001)
Volume 3 (2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2001)
Issue 2 (Nov. 2001)
Categories
Sport: 1
2 3
Lifestyles: 1 2
3
Commentary: 1 2
3
Review: 1 2
3
Writing: 1 2
3
Event: 1 2
3
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Ellie Fry
The High School
A one-act play with a cast of thirteen and a difficult script was deemed
a foolish and even impossible task for any director, but Mrs. Mary
Milne (head of Dramatics Department, The High School) undertook the
challenge and came up trumps. Her entry to the St. Andrew's One-Act Play
Festival, Michael Frayn's 'Audience' was a huge success. It achieved second
place overall, and one of its stars, Ben McNally, earned the title
'Best Supporting Actor'.
With a simple, minimalistic set, and few props, the visuals were sharp,
clear and effective. This, together with the obvious acting talent, made
for a great performance. 'Audience' is undoubtedly a difficult
play to act in, with its long pauses and confusing cues. However, the
characters are humorous and highly entertaining. The storyline is mixed,
but successfully holds the attention of the audience (the spectators,
not the cast!).
In our case, the cast consisted of Antonio de Gregorio as the
tormented playwright; Jack Olahan as a seventy year old, devoid
of all his faculties; Nicole Dowley as his solicitous wife; Ben
McNally as a stereotypically gay theatre buff; Christian Phelan
as his Drama student; Luach Hardiman as a 'sleazy' young businessman;
Sophia Lawless as his 'companion'; Shirley Beattie as a
neurotic forty year old; Rayne Booth as her 'upholstery-obsessed'
mother; Graeme Singleton as an obnoxious middle-aged man; Saoirse
Milotte as his unfortunate wife; Ellie Fry as their self conscious
daughter and Lana Condran as the apathetic usherette.
Some might say the actors were typecasted, as many of the cast showed
almost scary similarities to their characters (although some would plead
otherwise!!!). Because the cast was so well selected, the characters really
came to life and this added energy to the performance, which might otherwise
have been lacking. The entire cast and crew of 'Audience' were given one
month to learn lines, prepare props, gather costumes, perfect makeup,
and more importantly, time their cues. This proved to be no easy task.
However, it is said that people work better under pressure, and this was
indeed the case. After a month of sweat, tears and a few jars of Prozac
(just kidding!) the play was ready for an audience (well, two really).
We performed on the final night of the competition, and this added to
our anxiety. Due to the strange nature of this play, we decided it would
be better to perform it on the tiered seating at the back of the auditorium,
rather than on the stage. At the interval before our play was to begin,
we asked the audience to turn their seats around so they faced the back
of the theatre. This perplexed the audience, and made them less eager
for the plays to end and the adjudication to begin.
The play, when performed, was not in fact free from glitches. A slight
technical hitch, namely one alarm clock that refused to work, disrupted
the performance, but this was cleverly disguised by the improvisation
skills of the cast. Our performance was energetically received and the
cast's acting skills were commended. However, there were excellent performances
from Jack Olahan, Antonio de Gregorio and of course, Ben McNally, which
were all mentioned in Jeananne Crowley's adjudication.
After an interval, the results were announced and the prizes were awarded.
We were of course, delighted to receive second place after Mount Temple.
Although we did not actually see Mount Temple's play, we were all in
agreement that it must have been a superb performance to beat ours!!!
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