Patchwork Theatre at the Festival

Patchwork Theatre produced another exciting programme for the 2009 Town and Olive Festival. Here are some reflections from members of the cast:

Practice went on until the last possible moment, costumes were grabbed from their neatly folded piles. There was a buzz in the packed hall, some stifled giggles from behind the backdrop and suddenly it was “lights, cameras, action” and we opened with a cheerful song, “Froggie went a-courting,” the audience happily joining in with the “a-hums.”

Jack and the Beanstalk was next, with Christopher Mullins in the lead role. There was a technical hiccup at the second performance when the axe went missing, just as it was desperately needed to prevent the Giant from reaching the stage. Mother (Abigail) used her wits, grabbed Froggie’s sword and ad-libbed: “Here’s your father’s old sword,” saving the day!

“Lilli” proved to be a great hit and the costumes were incredible. Hannah starred as shy Lilli, Caleb as the charming, smooth-talking Raynardo the Fox, Sandy as the stupid but adorable giant Gogo, Rebekah as vain Marguerite and Christopher as cheeky, friendly Carrot Top.

Matthew and Joshua stole the show as Roald Dahl’s Aunties Spiker and Sponge from James and the Giant Peach. They caused great mirth simply by their appearance. Rod-thin Aunt Spiker in her blue dress was a perfect foil for the XXXL Aunt Sponge, who was bursting out of her red blouse.

The Jeremy Taylor classic, “My dog’s bigger than your dog” had the older members of the audience singing along and the reference to the President caused much laughter.

Matthew made a wonderful MC, Sandy, as prompt, helped out with the odd lost line, the cast had a terrific time and the audiences really appreciated the show. The morning performances were scheduled for the same time as the circus, which was a pity because we didn’t get many people and we couldn’t go to the circus, but perhaps there’ll be better planning next year. The afternoon performances were packed and people even had to sit on the counter at the back of the hall.

Congratulations to Tracy our drama teacher for co-ordinating the whole thing and making sure the shows ran smoothly. We hope to stage the production again for those people who were too busy to be able to attend during the Festival. To anyone that was at our shows, WE’LL SEE YOU NEXT YEAR or sooner if you come to our performance of Wind in the Willows later this year.

Abigail Modra, Caleb & Joshua Swanepoel and Matthew van Heerden