Categories: community
Date: 12 March 2009 19:24:50
A couple of weeks back I had the greeat joy of not just one trip to the theatre but three. The first two were, in fact, to the same play so it only really counts once. The am dram group at my church puts on an annual production to raise money for a local charity - this year a children's kidney charity. The production was an entertaining farce called Rumours. Set within an upper class mansion, guests arrive to find the host injured and the hostess is missing. The evening proceeds as the guests, each marred by their own personal situations, try to hide the unknown events from the police while still trying to discover the facts related to the actual events which occurred before they arrived. With excellent turns from the actors, the event was great fun. The second event was "These Four Streets", a play written in response to the riots in Lozells, a multi-cultural but deprived area of Birmingham. The riots were in response to a rumour that a black teenager had been violently rape by an Asian store owner from whom she'd allegedly been stealing from. As the rumours grew the age if the victim decreased and the number of attackers increased. It led to riot between the ethnic groups and it was only afterwards that the rumours subsided when no victim came forward. The play focussed on the lives of people from four streets in the centre of the area. Drawing people from a number of ethnicities, ages and past times or jobs, the stories were gathered from genuine residents. The 6 actors portrayed over 30 characters from the spectrum of lives within the area. The story starts around the time of the rumours and demonstrates the different responses including one woman giving her teenage daughter a knife 'to protect yourself'. As the events unfold the violence is seen through the effects on those around them. A teenager can be seen talking to the flowers left where his friend recently had been killed. The response of the council is responded to with skepticism but the response among the community members starts to demonstrate hope for the future through cooperation. The play was brilliant and a wonderful response from within the same city and the actors were excellent. I was very grateful for the one ticket returned so I could go to this sold out show. Horray for local theatre which responds as well as gives to the community.