BATS REVIEW

St Joseph’s Players, Leigh.

Teechers, written by Jon Godber was originally designed to be played by three young actors. St. Joseph’s Players brought this production to the stage with nine actors portraying the twenty characters who appear in the play and this worked perfectly.

We are introduced to of the ups and downs of life at Whitwall High School where newly qualified Drama teacher Mr. Nixon (portrayed by Cameron Lyth) experiences the life in a school that is not doing very well and the teachers are too set in their ways to make a difference. Nixon soon realises this and successfully interviews for a job at the more exclusive school where budgets and facilities and much better.

The story is narrated through the eyes of three pupils, Salty, Gail and Hobby played by Cameron Lyth, Zoe Unsworth and Hannah Parr respectively. These three young actors each give faultless, well polished performances. We were also treated to the vocal talents of Zoe and Hannah which was of a such high standard that it was hard to believe that it was actually live.

Another excellent performance came from society stalwart Keith Hindley who portrayed Teacher, Mr Basford with just the right amount of pompousness and then interpreted the roles of pupils Oggy Moxan and Pete Saxon with an excellent amount of comedic quality and timing.

With supporting performances from Kay Unsworth, Angela Grime, Kitti Dixon, Vikkey Dixon and Luke Ellam , this was definitely a team effort and all nine members of the cast worked extremely hard to present a production of a very high standard.

Director Pauline Nevell has done a sterling job bringing this production to life. With excellent casting and a simple yet effective set, she has revealed what talent St Josephs are nurturing and giving lots of promise for the future.

Well done to all involved.

Graham Cohen