Barnard Castle Watercolour Signed Print - Ken Burton
Price:£29.00
Kes - Darlington Civic Theatre
Oct 23, 2009
BASED on the book A Kestrel For A Knave by Barry Hines, there have been many adaptations over the 40 years since the book was published, including a musical. This latest adaptation is adapted by Lawrence Till and skilfully directed by Nikolai Foster.
The story follows Billy, a teenager who is bullied by his older brother and a teacher from school, his father has left home and his mother has no idea how to bring him up. Life doesn't look good for him until he finds a kestrel's nest, steals a chick and sets about training it.
There is of course no kestrel flying around the stage, but the story is not about the bird, but about the journey which Billy goes through, with the bird he is able to discover there is a world which isn't brutal and uncaring.
There are some remarkable performances in this production especially from Billy, played by Stefan Butler. Although it took a while to get used to his accent every movement was perfect within the role. Daniel Casey as the sympathetic English teacher and David Crellin as the bullying football coach were skilful in their portrayal of their characters. It has to be said that all the cast gave strong performances.
The highlights for me were Oliver Watton who appeared for a number of ballet scenes. As he was dressed identically to Billy this could be seen as the freedom Billy achieved whilst with Kes, but it also acted as a metaphor of Kes, as he swooped round Billy. The staging was simple and effective, imaginative scene changes and music enhanced the mood. The final mention must be for the young people from The Education Village who took on the roles of the school children. They looked very professional throughout.
A J Harrison