NORTH ESSEX THEATRE GUILD
Witham Dramatic Club
Terra Nova
By
Ted Tally
November 2011
It will be very difficult to write this adjudication without it being full of superlatives, as indeed this production of Terra Nova deserves.
The overall standard of the acting in this production was excellent so I have tried to balance my adjudication between the good and very good.
Edgar Evans
I loved the way David played Evans. I really could believe that this man was plagued by frost bite, his on coming madness and death were a “champagne moment” if that is the right word to use for such a sad piece.
In this very dramatic production David’s beautiful soft Welsh accent contrasted with the Norwegian sound of Amundsen’s voice and with the other characters English accents
This was a very strong performance indeed
The large open stage gave the director the advantage of not being hampered with furniture, therefore, allowing her to move the actors in such a way as to convey the vast wilderness of the Antarctic, but still being able to portray the closeness, friendship and, sometimes, frustration of the expedition party.
The choreography of the pulling of and the loading and unloading of the sledge was painstakingly precise; a tremendous amount of thought and work must have gone into getting that just right.
The audience became so involved with the characters portrayed and there was such a tension built up in this production that at the end of the play there was a long pause before the audience relaxed and the richly deserved applause began.
This was the first time I had been to Witham Dramatic Club; it will not be my last.
Michael Poole
