HEARTS & ARROWS
April/August 1985
 

Scotsman – August 28^th 1985 “HEARTS ‘N’ ARROWS Cumbernauld Youth Theatre” 1 | 2 | Top

Though laced with comic moments, ‘Hearts ‘n’ Arrows’ is a serious play designed for a large cast of teens and sub-teens, written and directed by Nick Fearne. It explores the effects of glossy teen-age magazines on their attitudes to love, sex and romance. Vignettes of highly realistic teenaged conversation abound, the boys being heartily cocky, and the girls conniving.

The satire on popular models of masculinity and feminity works particularly well. Erection Man is rough tough, and wears paramilitary gear. Silicon Chick is docile and accommodating, and wears a body-hugging red gown straight out of Dynasty. The second half takes place in a lively disco sponsored by the magazine. Here, the mean looking bouncers tend to steal the show, and provide mordant commentary on the boys and girls ceaselessly manoeuvring to pick their favourite partners on the floor. The production is uneven, but there are some very good performances, it is commendably revealing rather than patronising about teenage mores, and needs a large audience to encourage a hard-working cast at St Bride’s Community Centre.   

At the weekend a 13-year-old girl was in tears as she told a reporter how George Michael of Wham had said “Hi” to her at Gatwick Airport after hours of camping out to see him.

Poor girl. She would have been better employed spending her weekend watching Cumbernauld Youth Theatre dispel the myths of stardom and fantasy which surround today’s protected rock “starts”.

Their latest production “Hearts ‘n’ Arrows” was all about at teen magazine, full of pop-star pin-ups and fashion tips. A disco, sponsored by central point for this show, written and directed by Nick Fearne.

Mums and dads, as well as an enthusiastic amount of younger persons, filled the theatre almost to capacity on Saturday when I saw the show.

Despite a slightly sticky stat when some of the opening speech wafted in to the rafters, the play rolled along well in the all-too-short first half.

Julie (Margaret O’Hara) won a competition to meet Mike George BIG pop star, as part of a Hearts ‘n’ Arrows promotion. Every one is looking forward to the disco when the man himself will make a guest appearance.

Some fine comic performances punctuated the show, particularly from Stephen Russell as Rab. His portrayal of the not-too-bright footballer eager to meet young girls, was as near perfect as it could have been.

I was most impressed and Stephen could prove to be Cumbernauld’s best comedy export if this performance is anything to go by.

Bryan McCormack as Nic Demon, the DJ, in a slightly unusual role for him, was as ever flawless and funny. He possesses as rare quality, his ability to bring the audience to their knees laughing, just by raising an eyebrow or by a twist of his hand.

Craig Brackenridge (Joe) was almost Rik Mayall-like in his role and looks to have built up a good acting relationship with the others. Andrew Black as Colin, Gary Hamilton as Dave and Gary Mannion as Mark, all combined well to help form a famous five of prowling girl-hungry teenagers at the disco.

QUALITY

Joste Bowen, Playing a number of roles including Erection Man and the faceless Mike George, showed something like the comic quality we’ve come to expect from John Gordon Sinclair of Gregory’s Girl fame.

Ian Campbell as the Editor and Lesley Sharp as the features writer coped very well with their respective parts. Lesley’s portrayal o a slightly hard-bitten writer was excellent, a word that’s hard to avoid when talking about the Youth Theatre.

Ian was also excellent as the “fun-loving” Casanova editor and it’s good to see him in a “meaty” part for a change.

For the girls, Helen Blair as Alison gave a good performance bringing cheery enthusiasm to the part of hopefully we’ll see her in future productions. Christine Hampson as Mandy, the tough boy-getter was good and Brenda Sutherland coped very well as the vampy Sharon.

She also played the part of Silicon Chick cleverly, as the stereotype wife for a stereotype Erection Man. Some of the older member of the audience looked a little shocked at their scenes, but it was intelligently and entertainingly done.

I like Colin McAllister’s portrayal of a bouncer, he was someone all of us could recognise, and in this instance, laugh at. Ray Dowling played the other heavy.

Again, the Youth Theatre did well in this original show which seemed a little too short, particularly the second half which was just warming up well when it ended.

BACKBONE

It was good to see more younger members in the cast and they’ll be the backbone of future productions. Some of the older talents will no doubt leave now to greater things but the shows will go on.

Nick Fearne’s writing and direction were first class but I would like to see something a bit stronger for the next show.

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