life's a Stage knocking down the walls of theatre

A whole new concept of theatre will be introduced to Gibraltar during National Week, as part of an ambitious street acting project which will blur the boundaries between stage and audience and will involve actors and spectators in a choral drama of archaic Greek tragedy reminiscence.

the Governor's wife Lady Richards who then presented all participants with a certificate —exclusively in vited to its worldwide premiere and end-of-term performance,with Drama Week in December being one of the most probable venues.

"A Twirl of a Pearl" was entirely conceived by the students, who drew inspiration from the axiom that life is a grand stage, and cre ated a range of diverse characters with an all-round depth that never makes them cariacatures,but noth ing subtracts to comedy brilliance.

Without giving away too much of the plot, but enough to tease the potential audience to attend its forthcoming re-runs, the action un folds in a piazza, with a minimalist set featuring a caf^ terrace, a car parked in a disabled bay, a public telephone,a boutique window and a supermarket sign and is glued together by a the character of the drunk, present on stage from cur tain to curtain.

Local drama group "Anouilh Players", directed by Joe Gomez (one of their most prominent mem bers and also president of the Gi braltar Amateur Drama Associa tion), will stage prolific French playwright Jean Anouilh's play "The Lark", a modern reinterpretation of the story of his conational heroine Joan of Arc. However, such a solemn theme could not be restricted within the walls of a thea tre, and so there came the innova tive idea of"knocking down" those walls and expanding the action out doors, like in a medieval Nativity or Passion representation, made even more relevant and evocative by this play's medieval settings.

So,the"curtain" will open on the large cast in the Ince's Hall Theatre patio,from where a procession will slowly lead the heroine to her im pending doom and a highly spec tacular trial which will take place in the suggestive surroundings of the Piazzella, Governor's Parade. The audience will be given the choice to gather at either point, to and rehearsals have already begun, straight after Joe Gomez's previous directorial opus was sealed with a bang in July, when his drama work shops' students staged the com- follow the action from the begin ning or pick it up half way through, when'swept off' their path as long as the march unfolds, while the streets of Gibraltar will for a mo mentleap back almost six hundred years in time to provide a three-di mensional set to the large cast in period costumes, reviving a key chapter of Anglo-French history.

Auditions were held last month edies they had written and acted in eight weeks of intensive introduc tion to theatre courses.

And the adults' drama group was so proud of their achievements as newly graduated thespians that they are considering re-staging their fast-paced half-an-hour long comedy,"ATwirl of a Pearl", for a wider audience than the bunch of family and friends — and of course

He provides the discreet comic relief to the opening chit-chat of two long-lost girlfriends, then a pyrotechnic centre stage gag in a duet with the waiter and the clos ing ingenious coup de theatre, while kleptomaniac Quick Fingers Lucy strolls in and out applying her velvet touch to the unsuspecting characters' property, a police woman books the mndiifta abuser of a disabled parking bay, who then takes advantage of the issued ticket to continue hisshopping and to flirt with a lost Spanish tourist in search of romantic adventures with hand some blue-eyed English men.

The group of amateur drama be-1 ginners managed to overcome mi-j nor hiccups and practical difficuJ-j ties,first of all time-constraint(thejrj all have work and family commit-f ments which allowed them to me only a couple of hours a week)ar a limited knowledge of the ba rules in the world on the other sic of curtain, to deliver a spot-on per formance of professional standards, walking the stage with the natural poise the audience can expect from skilled actors.

Meanwhile, the children's and teenagers' group enjoyed so much the ride that they are currently doing it again with a Sum mer Drama Workshop three times a week spanning from midJuly to mid-Au gust, under the umbrella of the sport and cultural ac- potential whether in creating ideas and writing the scripts or in devel oping the characters on stage, where they directed themselves, under the attentive guidance of Joe Gomez,who sprinkled advice only when needed, not to hinder the children's enthusiasm in exploring their own creativity.

They staged five short comedies and two longer ones, all with a constructive meaning, harmonious plot and twists in the action; the acting drama panorama tivilies for schoolchildren organ ised by Government,and the expe rienced teachingsof amateur direc tor and actress Abigail Ryan Wallace of the Spotlight Drama Group and GADA vice-president, actress and producer Iris Guilliano.

The kids' workshops and per formances unveiled some rising stars in the local drama panorama, and allowed the students to de velop and maximise their artistic was spot-on and the team work proved to be the foundation of friendships stretching well beyond the spotlight.

For information about GADA's forthcoming initiatives, contact Iris Guilliano on Gibraltar mobile 54006176 or e-mail amateurdramagibraltart'yahoo.co.uk.

For information about Anouilh Players, contact Joe Gomez at zemog@gibteIecom.net.

Fiona's Special Contribution

In the words of Chronicle reviewer Anne Mesilio, herself a long-time enthusiast for the finest things in Gibraltar culture,'Fiona Honeyman seduced the audience at the recent Allegro concert with the beautiful tonal quality of her voice, which is sweet and pleasant to the ear'. So prano Fiona had dueted with visiting singer Rupert Day and captured the mood in her solos — 'Mi Bambino Caro'and 'Panis Angelicus'.

Fiona featured in July's copy of the Magazine as one of a trio of re cipients of the Duke of Edinburgh 'Gold' Award —'A will to succeed and a passion for music'— in which she told of her determination to achieve at work, music and life.

Her sense of achievement for everything she had done and her enthusiasm for challenges was in fectious.

Her closing comments were — "1 shall pass my Accountancy exams at the end of next year which will help my career; but music is with me forever and who knows where it will take me?"

by Alan Cravell