Shakespeare 4 Kidz The Tempest

Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon
 

Any cast would be pleased to hear a roar of approval when taking their curtain call, but Friday's Tempest in the Ashcroft Theatre was heralded with great cheers from hundreds of excited schoolchildren, just as the lights were beginning to dim.

Shakespeare 4 Kidz, a home-grown professional company whose head office is in Oxted, have made a wonderful job of turning the Bard's plays into tales which can be easily understood by youngsters, and have toured throughout the country.

Musical numbers flow throughout the plays to help short attention spans and dance routines add comedy where appropriate.
With A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth under their belts, Julian Chenery (book and lyrics) and Matt Gimblett (book and lyrics) turned their skills to The Tempest - hardly an easy task.

Ali James was outstanding as a will o'the wisp Ariel - cheeky, comical and appropriately sprightly.

Prospero's two big musical solos were superbly sung by Jason Lee Scott who brought power and magic to his role as the deposed Duke of Milan.

An unexpectedly high content of comedy pervaded the show, mainly through music and dance. Alan Morley, Tim Frost and Chris Hollinshead executed a fine Utopia as Gonzalo, Antonio and Sebastian, in spite of being shipwrecked, and Antonio and Sebastian won more roars of approval with Naples and Milan.

Paul Parris brought the lowly and evil Caliban to life, joining the court's butler Stephano and jester Trinculo in teh inebriated You Can Depend On Me.

Amongst the sailors and characters in the masque, actor Paul Grace, whose name has appeared on many local amateur programmes, celebrates the start of his professional career in this show.

Charm from Ellie Kirk as Miranda and the powerful presences of Mark Lyminster as Alonso, the King of Naples, bowled the tale along, with Matt McCarthy as Ferdinand for whom Miranda magically falls.

The fast-moving show may be quite far removed from the trauma and angst of the original, but the children for whom it is written, were absorbed and appreciative.

It is, of course, the hope that now they have the bare bones of the plot, they may well revisit The Tempest, as adults, to appreciate the real thing.