Letter from Miss Val Hemmens (From Swindon Advertiser)

Letter from Miss Val Hemmens

4:03pm Tuesday 9th February 2010

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LAST Friday I went to see Ten in a Bar at the Arts Centre. There are not enough superlatives to praise their performance. They celebrated A Night at the Oscars thanks to the inspiration of musical director Jill Hodge.

Scenes from films as diverse as Lawrence of Arabia, Pretty Woman, Gladiator and The Railway Children were projected onto the back of the stage. Group members re-enacted various roles. Especially good were the trio in Brief Encounter, filmed at our local station.

Lydiard House and Park were used for Gone with the Wind, particularly funny as the heroine was interrupted running towards the camera by a passing jogger and dog walker.

Jurassic Park featured two tortoises dressed as dinosaurs.

From the opening medley of hits from Mamma Mia to the finale of the dance from Slumdog Millionaire, it was a veritable cornucopia of music and action.

The best bit was the mini-play Pride and Prejudice where the whole group, including several guests, acted brilliantly. The story was punctuated by songs from the 70s.

It ended with the iconic scene of Mr Darcy emerging from Lydiard Park lake dripping wet.

Another sketch featured all the super heroes such as Batman and Robin, Superman and Indiana Jones plus their villains.

Everyone managed the innumerable costume changes effortlessly thanks to the soloists.

It seems unfair to mention individuals, partly as I don’t know many names, but Sunset Boulevard and Born Free were outstanding.

As they say, follow that. Swindon’s premier group, you deserve your own Oscar!

(Miss) VAL HEMMENS The Crescent Common Platt Swindon

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