drunken chorus

Over two weeks, performers from More: Dukes Youth Theatre worked with theatre director Chris Williams, and filmmaker Sheena Holliday.

To begin with, the group explored their favourite places around the local area - Happy Mount Park, the stone jetty, the beach, the statue of Eric Morecambe. They then went out into the town to begin filming these places, each having the opportunity to operate the camera, and each featuring in one shot disguised as a horse!!

They then began to think about what these local places remind them of - stretching their imaginations as far as they could, until the Superbowl became Las Vegas, Eric Morecambe became the Statue of Liberty, the Polo Tower became the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Through improvisations and devising sessions, the group then layered their imagined places over the top of the video footage of the real places that inspired them.

The resulting performance was full of material created by this passionate group of young people. Above all it was a fun exploration of the performers’ attitudes towards the places they live in, and the places in which they long to live.

Professional theatre companies can sometimes spend years making a piece of work, and yet these performers had a total of just 7 days to make the show. They have shown a great deal of commitment, hard work and talent, and can be incredibly proud of what they have achieved.