Spotlight on S4K favourite Noel Andrew Harron
 Playing crazy comedy characters is all in a day’s work for actor Noel Andrew Harron.
This Irish graduate of Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts has spent the last six years building up a catalogue of crowd-pleasing funny men.
But now he moves into the realm of immortality to play mischievous sprite Puck, one of the frolicsome fairies in a musical version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The show, from award-winning Shakespeare 4 Kidz, tours the UK from September.
Noel is a S4K favourite who hallmarks every role he plays with his own exuberant brand of very physical fun.
He played the knock-knock joke-telling Porter in the recent S4K's Macbeth and audiences and critics also loved his Mercutio in S4K's Romeo and Juliet, laughing at his crazy antics one minute and holding back the tears at his tragic death scene the next.
WhatsOnStage said of his Porter in S4K's Macbeth: “Noel Andrew Harron interacts, pantomime fashion with the kids, who laugh their heads off at his antics.”
And The Hamlet Weblog agreed: “The moment which brings the best response from the children in the audience and when they clearly become locked into the show is Noel Andrew Harron’s Porter.
The Kentish Times reviewer said: “The comic performance of Noel Andrew Harron as the hungover Porter is sheer joy.”
 And his Mercutio in R & J moved a newspaper critic in Dunstable to confide: “Noel Andrew Harron, bald head and make-up, made an impression as the wise-cracking Mercutio, his death scene incredibly poignant.”
In Southsea there was agreement: “The performer who shines most brightly is Noel Andrew Harron as Mercutio, a mercurial gymnast with words as in movement.”
And still further praise from Basingstoke: “Noel Andrew Harron as Mercutio stood head and shoulders above the rest. His energy and excellent comic timing had the audience chortling and even whooping him on, milking every opportunity to draw laughs.”
(Click here to see reviews and others on another page of this website.)
Puck marks Noel’s return to The Dream, having played Flute/Thisbe on a previous tour.
His Shakespearean credentials also include a spell with the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival. And he played a hilariously hapless Wishee Washee alongside Leslie Grantham in Hastings.
What is it that draws Noel to the Bard? “I love the variety of parts that I have had with S4K and I love being part of introducing kids to Shakespeare, knowing they are understanding it and enjoying it.”
 Notorious for his sense of fun, Noel will be stamping his own energetic mark on the role of Puck.
“He’s mischievous, fun and energetic – and gets confused occasionally! He thrives on mischief and enjoys watching the anarchy he has created.” Not unlike Noel himself, his mates might say!
And a bonus is that he gets to have a special rapport with the audience. “I just love having a giggle with the kids.”
But there is a serious side to this effervescent performer. He’s got his sights set on the role of the devious Iago in Othello because the character’s darkness and manipulative menace would be a complete contrast to those he has played up until now.
Follow Noel at noellyboy on Twitter
|
Shakespeare 4 Kidz News
Fairies and fun, royalty and romance, magic and misunderstandings are all in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, staged especially for children by Shakespeare 4 Kidz.