Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Other Credits

Special thanks to the 'School girls': Lesley Knights, Rachel Banks, Julie Abbot, Debbie Thomas, Rachel Jackson, Joanna Cresswell, Amy Billings, Louise Allen, Catherine Proctor, Sarah McMahon and Vickey French.

Lighting and Sound: John Watkins

Wardrobe: Lesley Williams, Maxine Robson, Beth Richardson and Pat Bishop.

Properties: Maureen Beale and Teresa Schiller.

N/A, Production Programme

Youth is having its fling this week

Youth is having its fling this week - at the Palace Theatre, Redditch, where the Palace Youth Theatre is presenting Hiawatha, and a few miles up the road in Wythall, where Wythall Theatre Group has augmented its ranks with about 20 youngsters for its production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Estelle Shutkever, Wythall's president, said "Quite a few years pass by in the play, and we have a group aged about 14 playing the Brodie girls in the first act.

Later on, these characters are played by slightly older people - but then we have a group of seven and eight-year-olds as the Brodie little ones.

For the children, all that is different is that their teacher has temporarily changed her name: Angela Smith, who plays Miss Brodie, has a junior acting group every Friday evening - and the production is relying heavily on the talents of her youngsters.

It is good to see Wythall back on the May schedules, incidentally. It has been missing from them for a couple of years, because the group, which performs at Woodrush High School and can use the hall only in holiday periods, had problems with cast members whose wives or husbands could not be persuaded that this was not a good time to go away for a week!

Unknown, Unknown Publication, May 1987

Review

The success of Jay Presson Allen's moving drama depends on the strength and ability of the performer playing the title role of the self-styled schoolteacher whose influence creates situations leading to disaster.

Wythall earn full marks for choosing Angela Smith for the part. Her Performance to quote the character's favourite phrase - was the crème de la crème. She dominated the stage with all the poise and authority the part called for.

She even got a standing ovation from one or two of members of the audience.

If Miss Smith appeared to be "at home" in school surroundings, it is because she is a private school head in real life.

Some of the teenagers playing schoolgirls in the play are her own pupils - Jane Ford in particular displaying a fine acting talent as the pupil who creates the turning point in Brodie's life.

Peter Swingler, Birmingham Evening Mail, 30 May 1987