Street Theatre Reviews
THE SHAKESPEARE JUKEBOX - Buxton Drama League
For the 20th year in a row, The Shakespeare Jukebox was performed by the Buxton Drama League. It proved to be an entertaining, fun show and a must watch for any fans of Shakespeare or for those who simply want to dip their toes into extracts of Shakespeare's plays!
A board containing a list of plays and scenes from them was set in front of the audience, allowing them to select which ones the five actors would perform. This, I found, was amazing as the actors remembered each scene in great detail and performed in high spirits, finding clever ways to include the audience during their short performances. During their rendition of the storm from The Tempest, one audience member was given a spray bottle to spray the actors with in order to suggest the rain while another was given a rattle to create the ambience of a storm. This was a brilliant way to involve the audience and something I thoroughly enjoyed.
All the actors seemed to balance the contrast between scenes very well. Sometimes highly strung emotions were required, as when Lord Capulet banishes Juliet, but the actors were able to go from creating a tense atmosphere to entertaining the audience with amusing scenes such as the Mechanicals' play in A Midsummer Night's Dream with its rather unwilling actor playing the wall.
Something commendable was the fact that all donations the actors collect go to charity, and the show was free to watch for anyone passing by the Pavilion Garden Promenade. The performance was roughly 45 minutes long, yet it amazed me how many plays, scenes and monologues the actors managed to perform within the short amount of time - they could have been professionals! I also thought it was a clever idea to ensure that before performing the scene selected the actors would give a brief overview of it and its within the play.
Overall The Shakespeare Jukebox is a must see, and I would most definitely go and watch it again as the actors change per night depending on who is available, and so do the plays and scenes on offer for the audience, so every night is different. The concept of the jukebox is fantastic, and the actors really pulled it off to a high standard. Bravo!
Isabel Fletcher-Shaw
