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 Carolyn Palmer-Marshall and Aaron Miller in Success |
Stage Success story for National actors
IT WAS a case of a dream come true for a group of aspiring young actors when they performed a modern fairytale at the Olivier Theatre.
Islington Youth Theatre beat more than 100 other groups to win the honour of performing on the National Theatre’s hallowed stage.
Their performance of playwright Nick Drake’s specially commissioned Success – a tale of a city banker forced to choose between endless riches and his dream girl – wowed the National’s directors earlier this year. The judges were so impressed that the group was picked to perform in front of an audience of 1,200 at the esteemed theatre last Monday.
Islington Youth Theatre director Ned Glasier, said: “We had amazing feedback, particularly about how cohesive and committed the group was. It’s an incredible achievement for this young company, mainly because we don’t recruit our members on the basis of talent, choosing instead to work with those young people who their teachers and youth workers think will most benefit from being part of our projects and productions.”
The group meets weekly at Islington Arts and Media School in Finsbury Park and makes use of the Pleasance Theatre for performances.
Thirty-six young people, aged from 12 to 18, were involved in taking Success to the Olivier. To fund it, they sold shares in the play and asked supporters to sponsor props.
Mr Glasier said: “It went really well, it’s an incredible thing for those kids. They are completely involved in every aspect – choreography, scenes, ideas, all come through them.”
“Before we started Success, many of the company had never even performed on stage before. Most haven’t even been to the National. They didn’t stop leaping around, screaming, crying when we told them.”
But Mr Glasier that when they took to the Olivier, the young actors were the ultimate professionals.
“They were nervous and excited,” he said. “They only had two and a half hours on the stage before they had to perform.
“They adapted better than most professionals because they had so little attitude. It went wonderfully, really brilliant. I didn’t spot a mistake.”
To a newspaper critic who complained the play did not reflect the reality of teenage life, Mr Glasier said: “It wasn’t about a bunch of 15-year-olds. It was about magic pizza sellers, City traders and characters who they would never have the chance to play and would stretch them.”
Two of the group are already in talks with agents as a result of the performance.
Mr Glasier, who is fundraising to expand the group, said: “A lot of companies would see this as a peak but we see is at a base from which we can grow.”
• For more information or to make a donation, see www.islingtoncommunitytheatre.com |
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