| 24 August 2009
C Too
16-22 August, 16.40
The intensity the actors aroused throughout this performance was incredible. If you want straight down the line talent, KCS Theatre Company’s production of Billy Budd should be your first port of call.
Telling Herman Melville’s tale of life at sea during the Napoleonic wars onboard the HMS Bellipotent, the stripped down set was evocative, while the crisp and accurate naval costumes gave the young actors the air of authority perfect for tossing one’s disbelief to the wind.
The close quarters of the set in relation to the audience, forcing the actors to enter and exit through them, was a stroke of genius. It made palpable the atmosphere when multiple tight backed naval officers swept down in uniform past you, or, if you are inches away from Billy Budd, as I was, when he cries out his last words amidst fatal drum roll. Completely goosebump inducing.
The set and costumes may have been top-end, but the acting was the real triumph. This band of schoolmates transferred their sense of brotherhood to that of a crew with ease. It had the poignant resonance that in reality, sailors would have been their age when fighting in the Napoleonic Wars, and this made the horrific final scene all the more agonising to watch.
There was neither a weak performance nor dry eye in the audience by the curtain call.
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