OBSERVER: A Christmas Presence
A Christmas Presence is a show that I would one hundred percent see again.
It was a great show that captured all of the events that happened to make Christmas ‘Christmas’.
It was an enjoyable script that told the story really well and was executed brilliantly by the cast. You could clearly tell this show was worked on a lot and was not some scrappy production.
Instead you saw a brilliantly executed show that was informative and fun, slipping a few jokes and funny bits in here and there.
Another great part about the show is that there is a lot of audience participation which I really liked, because unlike most productions, you felt like you were actually a part of the story and not just watching it unfold.
Also it is a really relatable show, and in the very first scene you see two kids fighting over who gets to put the angel on the tree, and eventually after a lot of fighting they drop it and it smashes – just like a normal household.
Personally I always look for if the characters stay in character when they are walking off or just in the background of the stage, and well for this show, I am happy to report that all the actors did, and I feel like that added a lot to the show, making it feel a lot more like they were their characters and not just acting.
A Christmas Presence was written and directed by Elizabeth Semmel and presented as a family show at the Mills Street Theatre, Cheltenham.
Review by Mack Klesman
(12 years old)