National Operatic & Dramatic Association London
Region
Thank you for your very warm welcome and for the opportunity to talk to your director, Andy Kennett.
Thank you too for the drinks Andy. This play was so well directed that I found it very hard to believe
that this was your directorial debut although I am aware that you were assisted by Pauline Aldridge.
This is an extremely powerful, and well written, drama and, in order to succeed, it needs several very
important elements. Firstly, an excellent Director, then a talented cast, good technical support and
most importantly I think, attention to detail from everyone involved. You certainly ticked all these boxes
and the result had the audience’s rapt attention from start to finish. Congratulations to you all.
The opening roving spot on the curtain, along with some very atmospheric music gripped us from the
moment the house lights went down. The lighting by Peter Humphreys was always well operated
particularly in Act I where there are several changes of scene and the lights were used effectively to
isolate small areas of the stage so that there was no pause whilst furniture was reset – indeed we were
hardly aware that any of it was being moved by your efficient SM Ian Selinger and his crew, aided by
cast, as they operated so very silently and slickly. The spot on Markinson in Act 2 was most effective.
Nick Cooper’s sound was always good, especially the Marines’ chants.
I mentioned attention to detail – this manifested itself in every area without any weak links. For
example, the military haircuts. I understand that all the men had to guarantee to submit to army
discipline where this was concerned, and some of you had to shave off your beards. The neat
hairstyles worn by the two female members of the cast were excellent too.
The costumes, all American Marine and Navy uniforms, looked very authentic to me so many
congratulations to Lee Marsh and Michelle Selinger. I was particularly glad to note the spit and polish
on the men’s military boots and the neat court shoes worn by the two ladies.
Alison Bowlzer’s props were, on the whole excellent; the documents looked authentic and all had
appropriate printing and writing; I know that a lot of research went into producing them all but remember
Americans do not use our A4 size, only the equivalent of our old Imperial quarto and foolscap. As
quarto is slightly wider and shorter than A4 you can make the latter look different just by lopping off an
inch from the bottom if you can’t get hold of the right size. On the other hand, printing on foolscap,
which is easy to buy here, can work well instead for official papers. I noted Jack Daniels whisky and
Budweiser beer bottles too.
The set, designed and built by your director and SM with Paul Roxan, was very effective and when the
tabs opened on the Court Scene in Act 2 the audience’s applause was well deserved.
Be inspired by amateur theatre
I am not sure who drilled the cast as far as their military bearing was concerned but you had all
developed crisp movements alongside your rigidly upright postures and smart salutes so again well
done all of you. I particularly noted the crisp turns when you moved off stage and when the MPs
marched into position.
The programme, designed by Rosalind White with some of her excellent photographs, was clear and
informative. I think that the two pictures of Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee in uniform might have better had
they been cropped because I think the jacket in the photos was not the same as the one he wore on
stage was it? He seems to be sporting Rear Admiral’s rings instead of those of a Lieutenant.
I liked the poster and programme cover design by Kike
The entire cast maintained good American accents – admittedly once or twice a more English sounding
vowel crept in but this never detracted from your overall performances. Most of you were audible all the
time although some of the cast lost a few words as their voice levels dropped. Do you do vocal
warmups and deep breathing exercises before you go on stage in a play or only if BTC is performing a
musical? Believe me it does help.
Benjamin Churchill played Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee well although you needed to slow your speech
down slightly at times by taking a breath. This would have aided your projection although your last line,
which was delivered with your back to the audience, was completely clear and well spoken. Your
goading of Jessep was particularly well acted.
Joanne Galloway was well, and believably, portrayed by Sarah Champion although you need to watch
your projection too Joanne, especially when turning up or side stage as once or twice your voice level
dropped.
The initial tension between the two of you was well sustained at all times.
Dale Carpenter played the third member of the defence team, Lieutenant Sam Weinberg, with very
good diction and projection. I cannot emphasise the importance of these qualities too much as it is vital
that not a syllable gets lost in a drama like this where every word counts!
Marlon Gill gave an excellent performance as the base commander Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Jessep.
You made the audience really understand just where you were coming from and that you believed that
you were right to play God to the troops under your command. You made us, the audience, hate you
and loathe your actions as much as the Marines probably did, but, at the same time, made us realise
that you were convinced that whatever you did was right.
The two accused Marines, Downey and Dawson, Liam Stephenson and Tom Whitcomb, were excellent
with rigid deadpan expressions all the time. Very good and believable performances from both of you.
Captain Markinson, Lee Marsh, was another very well acted role with clear diction and a good accent.
Your last appearance, spotlit, explaining why you were going to commit suicide rather than testify under
oath was very moving.
Ian Slack as the extremely nasty Lieutenant Kendrick acted and projected well all the time. Lovely
scowl Ian! Your whole performance was very good and entirely believable.
Ben Harris portrayed prosecutor Captain Ross as a hard-bitten lawyer. Your concentration was
excellent all the time too.
The small role of the judge, Commander Stone, was well played by Adrian Burroughs and you were
totally in character sitting there and concentrating all the time on the action around you.
Nick Clohessy had two small roles as the Clerk Tom and the Master at Arms. It was as the latter, albeit
a cameo role, that you excelled Nick – great gravelly voice for the part too.
Torr Hiley gave us a flashback scene as Private Santiago and then as one of the two MPs. Excellent
performances Torr, especially your moves as an MP escorting the prisoners – good posture too.
Mark Wainwright, Gareth Johnson and Julia Yelland all supported well and each of you took on two
small roles.
Everyone concerned with this production, techies, production and cast, combined to give the audience
a superb evening of entertainment. Very well done to you all.
Now, onwards and upwards as they say – to something very different, your production of the musical
Crush in seven weeks time!
Judith Watsham
Regional Rep NODA London 11 and 11A
Region
Thank you for your very warm welcome and for the opportunity to talk to your director, Andy Kennett.
Thank you too for the drinks Andy. This play was so well directed that I found it very hard to believe
that this was your directorial debut although I am aware that you were assisted by Pauline Aldridge.
This is an extremely powerful, and well written, drama and, in order to succeed, it needs several very
important elements. Firstly, an excellent Director, then a talented cast, good technical support and
most importantly I think, attention to detail from everyone involved. You certainly ticked all these boxes
and the result had the audience’s rapt attention from start to finish. Congratulations to you all.
The opening roving spot on the curtain, along with some very atmospheric music gripped us from the
moment the house lights went down. The lighting by Peter Humphreys was always well operated
particularly in Act I where there are several changes of scene and the lights were used effectively to
isolate small areas of the stage so that there was no pause whilst furniture was reset – indeed we were
hardly aware that any of it was being moved by your efficient SM Ian Selinger and his crew, aided by
cast, as they operated so very silently and slickly. The spot on Markinson in Act 2 was most effective.
Nick Cooper’s sound was always good, especially the Marines’ chants.
I mentioned attention to detail – this manifested itself in every area without any weak links. For
example, the military haircuts. I understand that all the men had to guarantee to submit to army
discipline where this was concerned, and some of you had to shave off your beards. The neat
hairstyles worn by the two female members of the cast were excellent too.
The costumes, all American Marine and Navy uniforms, looked very authentic to me so many
congratulations to Lee Marsh and Michelle Selinger. I was particularly glad to note the spit and polish
on the men’s military boots and the neat court shoes worn by the two ladies.
Alison Bowlzer’s props were, on the whole excellent; the documents looked authentic and all had
appropriate printing and writing; I know that a lot of research went into producing them all but remember
Americans do not use our A4 size, only the equivalent of our old Imperial quarto and foolscap. As
quarto is slightly wider and shorter than A4 you can make the latter look different just by lopping off an
inch from the bottom if you can’t get hold of the right size. On the other hand, printing on foolscap,
which is easy to buy here, can work well instead for official papers. I noted Jack Daniels whisky and
Budweiser beer bottles too.
The set, designed and built by your director and SM with Paul Roxan, was very effective and when the
tabs opened on the Court Scene in Act 2 the audience’s applause was well deserved.
Be inspired by amateur theatre
I am not sure who drilled the cast as far as their military bearing was concerned but you had all
developed crisp movements alongside your rigidly upright postures and smart salutes so again well
done all of you. I particularly noted the crisp turns when you moved off stage and when the MPs
marched into position.
The programme, designed by Rosalind White with some of her excellent photographs, was clear and
informative. I think that the two pictures of Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee in uniform might have better had
they been cropped because I think the jacket in the photos was not the same as the one he wore on
stage was it? He seems to be sporting Rear Admiral’s rings instead of those of a Lieutenant.
I liked the poster and programme cover design by Kike
The entire cast maintained good American accents – admittedly once or twice a more English sounding
vowel crept in but this never detracted from your overall performances. Most of you were audible all the
time although some of the cast lost a few words as their voice levels dropped. Do you do vocal
warmups and deep breathing exercises before you go on stage in a play or only if BTC is performing a
musical? Believe me it does help.
Benjamin Churchill played Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee well although you needed to slow your speech
down slightly at times by taking a breath. This would have aided your projection although your last line,
which was delivered with your back to the audience, was completely clear and well spoken. Your
goading of Jessep was particularly well acted.
Joanne Galloway was well, and believably, portrayed by Sarah Champion although you need to watch
your projection too Joanne, especially when turning up or side stage as once or twice your voice level
dropped.
The initial tension between the two of you was well sustained at all times.
Dale Carpenter played the third member of the defence team, Lieutenant Sam Weinberg, with very
good diction and projection. I cannot emphasise the importance of these qualities too much as it is vital
that not a syllable gets lost in a drama like this where every word counts!
Marlon Gill gave an excellent performance as the base commander Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Jessep.
You made the audience really understand just where you were coming from and that you believed that
you were right to play God to the troops under your command. You made us, the audience, hate you
and loathe your actions as much as the Marines probably did, but, at the same time, made us realise
that you were convinced that whatever you did was right.
The two accused Marines, Downey and Dawson, Liam Stephenson and Tom Whitcomb, were excellent
with rigid deadpan expressions all the time. Very good and believable performances from both of you.
Captain Markinson, Lee Marsh, was another very well acted role with clear diction and a good accent.
Your last appearance, spotlit, explaining why you were going to commit suicide rather than testify under
oath was very moving.
Ian Slack as the extremely nasty Lieutenant Kendrick acted and projected well all the time. Lovely
scowl Ian! Your whole performance was very good and entirely believable.
Ben Harris portrayed prosecutor Captain Ross as a hard-bitten lawyer. Your concentration was
excellent all the time too.
The small role of the judge, Commander Stone, was well played by Adrian Burroughs and you were
totally in character sitting there and concentrating all the time on the action around you.
Nick Clohessy had two small roles as the Clerk Tom and the Master at Arms. It was as the latter, albeit
a cameo role, that you excelled Nick – great gravelly voice for the part too.
Torr Hiley gave us a flashback scene as Private Santiago and then as one of the two MPs. Excellent
performances Torr, especially your moves as an MP escorting the prisoners – good posture too.
Mark Wainwright, Gareth Johnson and Julia Yelland all supported well and each of you took on two
small roles.
Everyone concerned with this production, techies, production and cast, combined to give the audience
a superb evening of entertainment. Very well done to you all.
Now, onwards and upwards as they say – to something very different, your production of the musical
Crush in seven weeks time!
Judith Watsham
Regional Rep NODA London 11 and 11A