Last night our intrepid 15 year old reviewer Emily Shaw (@Emily_Shaw1) went to see the spooky Valentine, with the City Varieties Youth Theatre at The Howard Assembly Room. Here’s her review …
On the 10th December I attended the first of two nights of performances by City Varieties Youth Theatre Company at the Howard Assembly Room. The show was an original, called ‘Valentine,’ which is a haunting ghost and love story for which the company have been preparing since September.
Comprised of 75 members between the ages of 8 and 21 the company remarkably managed to create the show from scratch in just twelve weeks, with input from all of the age ranges.
The show follows two sinister ventriloquist’s dummies, and the destruction and deaths that seem to have followed these creatures through time – could they really become animated by themselves? Could they be the ones driving people to commit terrible crimes? The dummies and the surrounding plot may seem dark, but it was mainly a family audience, and some of the darker topics seemed to bypass younger audience members, meaning it was suitable for every generation. The dummies were made especially for the play, and they certainly did the trick! Dressed as bride and groom, the dummies were truly creepy, and this added to the atmosphere of the play.
However, the darker elements to the play were balanced by the humour that came from the witty asides to the audience by the cast, and even an appearance of Margaret Thatcher, which was memorable to say the least! There was also singing, dancing and magic, not to mention the dummies being brought to life by brilliant puppetry! The atmospheric music was courtesy of Jamie Fletcher, who directed the play along with Dick Bonham and Lizi Patch, and always evoked the right emotions at the right time. The staging was wonderful, especially in a theatre such as the Howard Assembly Room, where the setting was intimate, and you have the chance to be close to the stage, and feel as though the actors are talking directly to you.
The romantic story of Rupert and Rebecca is both heart-warming and tragic, and helped bring the play to life. The story is shown over several eras, and shows some of the sadness caused by the dummies. The feeling of being transported through the years is common through the play, as the play reaches back to the mid 1800’s. Some of the younger performers even staged a live radio show, straight out of the 1940’s!
In all, ‘Valentine’ was a heart wrenching and haunting story, and surprisingly professional for the second production ever done by the Company! There are many future stars involved, and I would highly recommend seeing the next performance they produce. The play was perfect for Christmas, and has definitely created a lasting impression in my mind.
Find out more about the City Varieties Youth Theatre go to https://www.cityvarieties.co.uk/Online/default.asp
Thank you for writing this amazing review. I was in this show I played the director in the news bit and the bad max.
That’s a wrap well done thank you everyone thank you Mr Boley lol
Luke