Newbury Youngstars "Return to the Forbidden Planet"

We were invited to the Youngstar's performance of the musical "Return to the Forbidden Planet" at the Arlington Arts Centre and this would be the first time we had visited there.

On arrival we met Jane Bradshaw, a parent and one of the organisers of the Youngstars. The building is relatively new and is used by Mary Hare School and the interior is a typically modern open stage with no curtains at the front and a tiered auditorium, which allows excellent visibility. The sound box is set back high up over the auditorium and this is where the musicians were located, headed by Michael Evans the musical Director. The theatre was well designed but unfortunately the seating was very cramped, to get the most seating in its space: I had , with my long legs, great difficutly in even getting them into the cramped space, However, this did not detract from the performance.

The first act began with a blaze of colour and sound when the entire cast came on the stage singing "Wipe Out" and expected, and received audience participation. The plot of the musical was based on the film "Forbidden Planet" and subsequent dialogue was punctuated by some Shakepearean play extracts. I did recognise some of the songs, which started in the 1960s and became more modern as time went on. The acting was very good when you consider that some of the case seemed very young, from probably 12 to 17 years old. The costumes were opulent with some vivid colours that transformed the stage.

I was glad to stretch my legs at the interval as I was really cramped; it also gave us the opportunity to speak to other members of the audience who were in the main wave of parents.

The second act was as lively as the first with lots of action, good use of underground music and stage effects, including a scary monster with green legs! These were a couple of outstanding members of the cast, both of which had good voices. The Navigator (Georgie Radford) and Miranda (Ellie Bradshaw) were excellent, as were the backing singers. I think the audience was almost as breathless as the cast as it all seemed to go at a remarkable speed. To give them all credit, Edward Dann, the prompter, had to intervene only about four times during the entire performance.

Congratulations to all of them: they were a great credit to all young people.