Medusa The Gorgon Loses Her Head

The Music Box Spring Term Production Review

The young actors from The Music Box music and drama class put on a terrific show last night for a delighted audience of family and friends. The evening included a preview of their forthcoming musical production, "Olivia!", by Malcolm Sircom, but the main event was a performance of "Perseus and The Gorgon's Head", by Geoff Bamber.

Pereus, the hero of the night, was played by Rebecca Welsh who wonderfully combined the comedy and heroism of her character. Ashley Snaddon's portayal of Medusa was suitably hideous and contrasted well with her other performances in the play as Hippodamia, lover of horses, and pushy mum, Cassiopeia.

Other noteable performances included Matthew Allison as The Oracle, portrayed by Matthew as  a rather doddery old man, and a brief but exceptional cameo of The Winged Messenger by Ross Davidson who also played the god Hades. Nathanael Kelly contrasted his laid-back performance of Zeus (Zeus, the window cleaner - not Zeus, the god of all gods) with a wonderfully drippy Phineus and with Hermes, a god with attitude.

One of the biggest challenges for a largely female cast was the portrayal of the evil kings Acrisius and Polydectes. Shannon Gilchrist and Sarah Allison rose to this challenge and did a great job convincing the audience that they were not a nice as they looked.

Among the younger members of the cast, Jennifer Abercrombie and Lorna Smith really shone with their performances of the heroines Danae and Andromeda. Lorna also shone in the role of Athena, god of heros. Natasha Allen, Iona McLeod and Christina Ritchie had the ineviable task of convincing the audience that they were the hideous Greaea Sisters, related to Medusa, but not quite so scary!

The second hero of the story, Dictys, was protrayed with great confidence by Chloe Hume and the whole thing was held together with aplomb by the comic narration of Lois Wright.

After a short break (for a change of costume) the class then performed 'Let's Go To The Opera' from the musical Olivia! featuring Matthew Allison as Fagin, Ross Davidson as The Artful Dodger and Lois Wright as the Fat Lady. Rehearsals for this production begin in earnest now and the show will be performed on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 June at the Stewarton Area Centre.

See more photos here.