In-house review by Richard Pedersen

Richard Pedersen is a Tower member of thirteen years standing who first trod the boards at the age of nine.

To my shame, I must confess that Eclipse, Peter Miller and Amanda Morgan's production of the play by Simon Armitage, was the first Tower Youth Theatre production which I had attended. I was, in fact, in the throes of buying my ticket when our esteemed Editor asked me if I would write the review. Not to be outdone, I saw the play twice on successive nights.
I wish that I could say that I enjoyed it unreservedly, but I'm afraid I can't, and most of the problem lies with the play. It is obvious from the programme notes that Philip Armitage is a poet first and foremost, and this came through loud and clear during the performance. He was almost self-consciously poetic in his writing which I felt was to the detriment of the drama. The writing hindered the actors who were unable to be wholly convincing characters, hamstrung as they were by pages of (dare I say it) pretentious semi-verse.
The plot, in a nutshell, is that six young people known mostly by their assumed monikers - Klondike, Tulip, Midnight, Glue Boy and the identical twins Polly and Jane - are in Cornwall with their families for the 1999 eclipse. On the beach they meet the strange figure of Lucy Lime who changes their perceptions and then disappears as mysteriously as she appeared. Echoes of The Passing of the Third Floor Back"?
My nagging question throughout the production was "how old are these people supposed to be?". I sense that the play was really written for rather younger actors than the company of the Tower Youth Theatre (whose ages ranged from 18 to 22). There was a childishness about much of the action and dialogue which ill-fitted the apparently streetwise people on stage. And yet unlike in Blue Remembered Hills I wasn't aware that the company was attempting to play younger than they were. As a result of this a lot of the play didn't ring true - parents up on the cliff top, Klondike collecting pretty curios in a bag, Glue Boy sniffing glue from a plastic bag.
Despite the handicap of the script, however, the directors gave us a lively and engaging production which never lost its vitality and was ingenious in its use of the stage. There were no below-par performances either from the seven actors, who all deserve a creditable mention. I particularly liked the performance of John Glynn as Paul Bond known as Glue Boy, basically out of his skull on solvents for the duration of the action (whatever did his parents up on the cliff think?). He loped around wide-eyed, never other than fully engaged in the action, equally impressive when listening for the non-existent boat and seagulls as when he held centre stage. His diction was faultless in a role where much of the dialogue was gobbledegook.
Similarly impressive was Thomas Lee-Smith in the equally difficult role of Martin Blackwood or Midnight. Midnight because of the fact that he has been totally blind since the age of ten. There were instances where I felt that the actor could see more than he was supposed to but in general the pretence of the lack of sight was well kept up. But what was the author playing at sending him off for ice creams? I was confused how a sightless young man is supposed to scale a cliff face and then return to the selfsame spot on the beach with two ice creams (and no white stick). The sight of the melting ice creams was nevertheless the funniest moment in the play.
Less successful among the men was, I felt, Henry Briant as Klondike (we never learn his real name). His hair and moustache belied an intensely childlike character while his new-age mouthings became increasingly annoying. I thought that the actor could have improved on his vocal delivery - at one and the same time it sounded a little too elocuted, while it had an unfortunate habit of fading away at the end of sentences.
The three girls in the group of friends - Caroline Leonard as Tulip, Amy Scarth as Polly and Hannah Gollancz as Jane - were all highly competent actors and gave us believable performances, if their characters were a bit thinly-drawn. Tulip is described in the script as a tomboy, but I'm not sure what that means for a woman in her late teens. The twins, Polly and Jane, looked convincingly younger and they made a good effort at looking identical. I did think that a bit more make-up would not have gone amiss so that they could have looked even more doll-like. Their vocal delivery was spot-on, particularly when speaking in unison.
I honestly didn't know what to make of the outsider to the group; Lucy Lime as played by Kathy Berketa. Initially, like the other six I found her annoying, and since we knew from the start that she was going to end up disappeared if not dead, I was waiting for someone to take the plunge and get rid of her. The others, however seemed to take a shine to the woman but I regret that I never did. Not to detract from Ms Berketa's competent performance - she was limited like the others by a weird script. The tale of standing naked on a canal bank having been thrown in by three men (I can almost understand why) was little more than cringe-evoking.
The set design by Amy Pope was effective and striking, with entrances and exits well-concealed. I was less convinced by the electric fence, a key part of the action, which looked just too symbolic. The incidental music was nicely appropriate to the play. I understand moreover, that all the design and technical back-up was provided by members of the Youth Theatre themselves, without the unwanted interference of older Tower members. Congratulations to you all.
It is one of my lifelong regrets that the Teesside Youth Theatre was founded the year I fled the parental nest so I never participated in it. I sincerely hope that all those involved in the production will become full-time Tower members, although I note from the programme that most of the cast have their sights set on further horizons. Without wanting to sound patronising - good luck to you all and thank you for two enjoyable evenings.