Side by Side Theatre group evolved from the
learning for life drama course held at Stourbridge College in the West
Midlands. Formed in 1997 they have become the first group of amateur
actors with learning disabilities to achieve awards and recognition in
several new areas of the performing arts.
This
is their third sojourn to the Fringe. ‘We are the Dreamers’ based
loosely on Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream has the least
script of any version I have seen. The minimal words are just enough to
keep us up to date with the storyline. Most of the show concentrates on
movement and the accompanying snippets of popular songs are well thought
out and assist in the overall story telling. The performers are well
directed and help each other throughout the show, the costumes are
sumptuous and each performer has several changes, some of the scene
changes and sets are liable to be stolen as ideas for other shows.
All in all this is a well thought out and performed piece of
theatre.
The
performers are, Sarah Field, Mark Slater, David Atkins, Lucinda Dawson,
Francis Muller, Theresa Byrne, Claire Attwood, Judy Alcock, Jason
Hinchcliffe, Susanne Douglas, Janet Baxter, Amanda Hill, Johanna Fowkes,
Daniel Jones, Paul Taylor and Brett Robinson.
This
is an enjoyable piece of theatre from a talented young group of
performers.
****
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