Bedazzled - Bishampton Village Hall (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Bedazzled - Bishampton Village Hall

A COMIC melodrama set during a gold rush in Ireland in 1795 - we didn't know what to expect from Bedazzled NTC Touring Theatre Company.

It ended up a golden nugget of a show, full of laughs and enjoyment, staged by a top class company visiting as part of the Shindig community arts scheme, which helps bring top shows to small rural venues.

Sylvia Cullen's play is a story of love and greed. The heroine, Moody Mangan, has to join the gold rush to save her fiancee from transportation, arranged by her old enemy, Clamp. She has to dress as a man to survive in the ruthless and self-centred world of the panners and fend off all kinds of unwanted, and hilarious, attentions as she bravely strives to get her man and revenge her family.

Six actors took various roles, with Julianne Mullen as Moody and Bidi Iredale as the streetwise old traveller Nan Tom most central to the plot and both striking throughout. But that's not to mention their colleagues, equally impressive without exception - and the fine job done by director and lush extraordinaire Gillian Hambleton.

Great costumes and design brought the full theatre experience to the village hall. The only criticism was that more people hadn't abandoned their tellies on a snowy night to turn out and enjoy what was probably one of the best fiver's worth of entertainment you could spend anywhere.

To find out more about Shindig performances, call the county arts team for a brochure on 01905 766337 or watch the Journal arts pages for upcoming shows.

REVIEW BY CAROLYN MORRIS