Group praised on a national stage (From Stroud News and Journal)

Group praised on a national stage

FLIES on the Wall, the Stroud-based youth theatre group, took their production of Samurai to the National Theatre on Monday, July 11 and came away with a review in a national paper and a lot of praise.

"We were treated brilliantly by the National Theatre," said director Tessa Kemp.

"We were overwhelmed by the amount of time they spent making sure the production looked and felt right on the Olivier Theatre stage and the cast adored being there."

The cast, all aged between 13 and 17, performed to a packed auditorium, on the same night as another youth theatre group.

"It was compered by Mel Smith, who none of the cast recognised," added Tessa, "but Charles Dance presenting prizes impressed their parents!

"The feedback was excellent. We were joking later on the night, asking if the morning papers were in and then the next morning we picked up a copy of The Guardian, which had a really positive review of the show.

"That's it for Samurai, but we went out on a high note."

This is certainly true; the entire cast and crew stayed an extra night and joined all the other youth groups for a big end of show party on the Tuesday night.

It's going to be interesting to see what the group do next, given their high achievement this time round.