Shakespeare in the Sunshine

With a cast and crew of fifty junior pupils from the B and A Blocks, JMGL's outdoor production of 'The Comedy of Errors' was a veritable triumph. Blessed by almost constant sunshine during rehearsals and performances, the large cast was able to make the most of every part of the Garth and its medieval buildings: chasing round pillars, sitting on ancient walls or arguing in sunken monastic gardens. From the moment the window cleaner arrived at the start of the ingenious Prologue, scrubbing at the leaded lights of The Old Priory, to the moment when actors were actually stopped in their tracks by the officious Pedestrian Traffic Management Supervisor with her Stop/Go sign and her mug of tea, the audience knew it was in for an unusual and most entertaining hour.

Naughty nuns giggled in a corner with cigarettes and alcohol in a Spar bag, until beckoned inside by the Abbess, calling from the highest corner window of the building - the window's situation almost got a laugh on its own - whilst, throughout the production, three angelic art class schoolgirls sat drawing the architectural glories before them under the supervision of their teacher and tourists photographed each other posing on the ruins. And, as swallows swooped around their heads, the resident band performed appropriately Greek tunes.

Of course, this is JMGL's trademark, immaculately directed incidental action, all cued to the split second by the inimitable Hayden Ball (S), fresh from his GCSE examinations. The Garth was the perfect 'set' for such action, but there was some plot as well. Riotous Shakespearian comedy of mistaken identity is very hard to do well but the pace and energy of the entire company in Mike Charlesworth's edited version of the play made the hour absolutely zip by. Some of the individual acting was notable, from Kate Benn (A), Jasper Hardcastle (N), Ethan Coupland-Smith (N), Caitlin Brooks (F) and Sevi Matthews (A) (two sets of brilliantly cast twins), but it was, as so often with Repton's Junior Plays, the strength of the ensemble - professional, disciplined and utterly focussed - that showed that Repton School's Drama sets standards that few other schools can match.

And, somehow, despite the meteorologists' direst warnings and apart from a few drops of rain for five minutes on Monday, the sun shone determinedly through both performances, sealing the magic of the occasion for the three hundred or so who were lucky enough to get tickets in time. All this with a theatre currently closed for a massive refit; what will November's main school play bring in terms of ingenious use of space? 

More photographs of the play can be viewed by visiting the gallery,
please click here.