County Press Review

Show brought tears to eyes
By Sue Lupton - Friday, September 18, 2009

EXTRAORDINARY Island talent was on show at Quay Arts’ Anthony Minghella Theatre last week.RedTIE Theatre’s performance of The Long Road was a powerful, harrowing piece of drama that brought tears to the eyes of more than one member of the audience.Shelagh Stephenson’s script deals with a family’s grief following the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Danny. The director was Joe Plumb, one of several brilliant youngsters involved in the performance.The RedTIE group runs workshops for young people, encouraging creativity and self-expression through drama. With its productions, it aims to raise awareness of social issues.One of the organisations backed by RedTIE is Help2Grieve, a new group to help bereaved children and families.With knife crime constantly in the news, The Long Road takes a long, hard look at how it affects those left behind.Helen Reading, RedTIE group leader, was utterly convincing as Mary, Danny’s devastated mother, who is driven to try and understand why her son was killed by a young stranger.Her real-life husband, Steve, gave an equally strong performance as Danny’s father, John, who tries to deal with the loss by running and drinking.Danny’s brother, Joe, was played by Henry Vince, a former Carisbrooke High student, now studying drama at Exeter University. He had witnessed the murder, which he recounted in an incredibly moving monologue at the opening of the play.The killer, Emma, a damaged, drug-taking teenager, had stabbed Danny late at night, when he refused to give her money.Superbly portrayed by Katy Rawlinson, a Carisbrooke High student, Emma is cocky, gobby, foul-mouthed and slightly pathetic. A prison therapist, Elizabeth (Maria Wilkinson), arranged for Mary to visit Emma in prison and, though her first visit was a disaster, a turning point came when Emma admitted she did not mean to kill Danny and she did not read Mary’s letters because she was illiterate.Although Mary and Joe cannot forgive her, they start teaching her to read.By the end, the family is on its way to recovery and Emma is starting to turn her life around.

Review of The Long Road by Sue Lupton of the County Press

"Extraordinary Island talent was on show at The Quay Arts' Minghella Theatre last week.RedTIE Theatre's performance of The Long Road was a powerful harrowing piece of drama that brought tears to the eyesof more than one member of the audience.The director was Joe Plumb, one of several brilliant youngsters involved in the performance ....."

See this weeks County Press for the full review.
Also: RedTIEtheatre has been nominated for 10 County Press awards for Five Kinds of Silence, The Filibuster, Bedroom Farce and The Dumb Waiter. We feel honoured!!

RedTIE youth Workshops

The new term starts on Saturday 19th September at Nodehill Middle School.
Work starts on the SEAL project piece for October and a performance for Lake Middle School's Anti-bullying week.

More audience feedback for The Long Road

" ......it really was brilliant. I wish more of the kids could have seen it as it had a really had a powerful effect on the ones that did. I think it was everything live theatre should be - you should be really proud of yourselves, Red Tie just keeps getting better!"

Feedback from The Long Road audience:

• It was evident right from the start just how powerful the interraction between the family members was, and was played to absolute perfection, with the rawness and jaggedness of every emotion vividly portrayed. It felt at times like I was intruding on something intensely personal, almost as though I shouldn't be there. The more I saw and heard, the more intrigued I became.
• Congratulations on another triumph.
• I just wanted to tell you I thought the long road was ******* excellent. Such a strong cast and all played out with real poignancy. I haven't seen something so good in years. I hope you're all really pleased with how it went, you should be.

RedTIEtheatre have just finished The Long Road. If you didn't see it you missed a treat. The new term for the RedTIE students is starting on 19th September at Nodehill Middle school and all the places have been taken. If you want to put your name on the waiting list then please contact Helen on 0771 205 0920.
The Press review for the last production will be in next week's County Press weekender.
Watch this space for news of our next production and adult workshops.