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Chips
with Everything by
Arnold Wesker A
Review by Karen Emms What do bayonets, chips, RAF uniforms and parties all have in common? They all appear in the play Chips with Everything. This play, by Arnold Wesker, is set in the early 1950's and seemed the ideal one to put on by the Wivenhoe Youth Theatre in August 2005. Three performances created with just two weeks of preparation and rehearsal! The
play is about a group of Air Force conscripts who begin 8 weeks of 'Square
Bashing' - basic military drill. Two of the conscripts Pip and Chas become
good friends. Then Pip becomes rebellious and the officers try to break
him but don't succeed. There is Smiler, another recruit who doesn't fit in,
and also can't help smiling. Pip sympathises with Smiler. As
the play is set in the 1950's, uniforms, the set and props were a
challenge. Then there was the marching, gun drill and square bashing. We
all decided to get some real practice from the experts and our director
Isabel Evans arranged for Sgt Maj Darren Marsh, from 160 Army Youth to
come to the centre and teach us the basics. At first we were a bit nervous
but excited. There was a lot of commands to remember but it was great fun.
Some of us found ourselves marching up Wivenhoe's High Street instead of
walking (scary) During the two weeks we were assigned jobs. Costume, set, props and publicity. Mine was publicity, together with Matt Pendle. It was interesting to see what goes on behind a show. I found out how to produce programmes at a reasonable cost, painted lots of set and how to sell a show to the public. The really good thing about the Youth Theatre is you meet a whole new set of people who are all interested in the same thing as you. Everyone helps each other. On top of all the jobs everyone is learning lines and rehearsing scenes; it's a busy two weeks. At the start of the second week, the army picked us up and took us to the barracks, complete with our costumes and rifles. Sgt Maj Darren Marsh taught us how to march in a wheel, present arms, order arms, stand on guard and plenty of other commands. At the end of our training we were all doing well and in time with each other. Our thanks to Sgt Major Darren for what he drilled into us! Our ticket sales went from 56 on the first night to having to add two extra rows of chairs for the last night, a record for the Youth Theatre. This
has been one of the best experiences in my life, I've learnt a lot and
would love to do it next year. I recommend the Youth theatre to everyone
and would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who was
involved. Karen
Emms Note: Congratulations to all of the people who performed in this production and those who helped to bring it all together. I'm sure that everyone in the audience, like me, marvelled at the quality of the performance; the acting, the recital of so many lines and all delivered so fluently, the accents employed and kept up so consistently. Congratulations once again to Director Isabel Evans and very well done to everyone involved in this year's production. Cllr Peter Hill |
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Click here for the Wivenhoe Youth Theatre home page in the Wivenhoe Encyclopedia |
