The performance of “West side story” in Oxfordshire.
It was very uplifting to see the DIY Theatre Company’s West Side Story at the Amey Theatre in Abingdon on Saturday, the 23rdAugust. My only regret was that the Amey Theatre wasn’t as well-attended as it could have been. Oxfordshire residents not there missed a treat.
When I heard that musicians, actors and dancers from Oxford’s twinning partners were putting on West Side Story, I jumped at the chance to see it. As I had an American upbringing in the 1950’s and 60’s, I grew up with the West Side Story music and lyrics, and images of the Sharks and the Jets, their finger-snapping “cool” dancing, and “Gee Officer Krupke” were wired into my consciousness.
This performance in Abingdon was made possible by a collaboration between young people and a few more mature participants from the twinned towns of Oxford, Leiden, Bonn and Grenoble. As I have been involved in a number of educational exchanges linked to the Grenoble-Oxford twinning, I also wanted to support this event, and as a retired Oxford Brookes lecturer I am very interested in the younger generation’s efforts in the arts.
I believe West Side Story was an inspired choice for these young people to attempt. Sometimes amateur productions can be disappointing, when you hear that oh-so-familiar song being rendered in a somewhat less powerful or slightly wobbly way. However this team were spot on, and every number was produced flawlessly. The lovely thing is that this is the perfect production for young people, as the themes and characters can speak to them, whether they are French, German, Dutch, English or any of the other ethnicities in these countries, as immigration is also a current running through the story line.
The amazing thing to the onlookers, is that these young people were not a unified theatre group who practised together regularly over a lengthy period of time. The talented members of this team spoke different languages, had studied under different education systems, and were not able to even see each other in person until perhaps a week before show time. Therefore, their collaboration had to be done by long distance, Zoom links, recordings, etc. However, they still melded together as a wonderful whole. The orchestra, whose members were mainly but not all from Leiden, was excellent and really propelled the performance forward. The main characters could sing beautifully, sometimes when dancing at the same time, and the ensemble work, both singing and dancing was impressive. You could see the “hoodlums” sparring in the New York Streets and the girls swirling in their Hispanic flouncy skirts, but also being as tough as they had to be.
The overall organiser Mel Houldershaw, and all of those whose hard work made this possible, are to be commended. My only wish is that this sort of international artistic collaboration be better supported by the Oxford community, the Council, and even receive national funding. The theatre should have been packed to the rafters as the enthusiastic players deserved
written by Dana Wentworth
