T
imberlake Wertenbaker's play Our
Country's Good, performed by AS
actors, with stage design by Annie
Haden-Taylor and lighting by Bond Carter,
was just perfect. The play was presented
in a Brechtian format, which meant that
all actors had to change the staging
themselves, and be on stage whilst others
perform. This is hugely difficult to pull
off, but the cast achieved it to the very
highest standard. And indeed this was
reflected in their AS grades -
congratulations!
As audiences will have seen from various
other plays at King's, The Crucible for
example, Annie's set design is faultless,
the product of considerable and
admirable imagination. Bond Carter's
lighting was also noteworthy, and I must
emphasise the complexity of the lighting
effects in this play, having to show
different times of day and qualities of
light - a challenging task for Bond but
one he solved brilliantly.
Emily Albery, Patrick Cartwright and Joe
Merriweather are not debutants in
performances at King's, and as in every
other production, acted with remarkable
portrayal of character, precise language
and eloquent delivery. Similarly with all
other actors in the performance: huge and
undeniable talent. Ellie McLean cleverly
changed from a promiscuous, comic
woman to a very conformist, traditional
man, a performance which could not be
overlooked. This dramatic change of
character was very similar to what
Morgan Smith had to accomplish with his
hilarious portrayal of Meg.
Harry Sharp too acted strikingly, showing
he had a rare, enviable presence on
stage. Ronnie Wells and Max Molle also
had commendable passion, and delivered
brilliantly. Max Molle must also be
mentioned for his praiseworthy accent.
Special appreciation must also go to Mr
Wood for yet another unmissable
production - congratulations to all
involved.
Annie Haden-Taylor's set design for 61's
production of Timberlake Wertenbaker's
Our Country's Good achieved top marks
from AS examiners
Our Country's Good
by Sophia Collins
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