"Sycamore Gap" by Al Smith

Flying High Expressive Arts CIC

Bonington Theatre.

Performed by Flying High Young Company and Senior Youth Theatre groups.

Sunday evening saw a special performance of a new play called "Sycamore Gap" about the destruction of one of the most famous trees in history. This play is a new vision of what may have happened and who may have been responsible. This play will also be performed at Derby Theatre as part of NT Connections Festival running from 23 to 26 April. Every year, Connections commissions new plays for young people to perform. The programme brings together some of the UK’s most exciting writers with the theatre-makers of tomorrow.

"Sycamore Gap" is a whodunnit about the felling of the Robin Hood Tree at Sycamore Gap. Set on the day after the felling, the local police are "in school" conducting an investigation. The twelve members of the school’s eco-club are held in a classroom, being taken out and interviewed one by one, until the culprit cracks and confesses. While they wait for their turn, the pupils interrogate each other. Who could have done something so monstrous? What possible motivation could they have had? What impact will it have on their club and their community, now that the tree is gone? And will it be possible for any of them to move on?

Sam Pratt (Linden), Poppy Ogburn (Rowan), Sam Barber (Crab), Harrison Bird (Boxer), Liv Ali (Spindle), Lily Smith (Hazel), Ella Flewitt (Cherry), Ophelia Johnson (Willow), Ash Byrne (Birch), Amelia James (Holly), Ellie Pickering (Ash) and Tim Burns (Elder) are the twelve club members who are all under suspicion and as an ensemble piece they are all wonderful actors who make you feel as if you're a mere fly on the wall, spying on this teenage group of The Jackdaw Club. There are several standout performances for me, on a personal level, but that said the whole ensemble succeed in telling the story and discovering who was responsible for the tree felling and the reason for doing it perfectly and with lovely splashes of humour and character throughout.

Adding to this delightful dozen are The British Court Of Public Opinion represented by Esther Burton (Queen), Bella Impey (Farmer), Ruby Nehra (Builder0, Scarlett Machin (Journalist), Oscar Straw (Lawyer), Willow Evans (Politician) and Elspeth Bull (Loyal Subject), all interjecting with their personal opinions. I must say that the costumes for these characters are rather good and immediately separate their titles and positions from the twelve Jackdaw Club members.

The set is also something that needs mentioning as its' set on several levels to also raise the height level of the British Court Professionals, bringing their stature to physically laud over the other twelve. The lighting is all green with the base of the felled sycamore emitting a green glow and the floor resembling a grassy area as per the location of the original tree.

It's a fascinating twist on the factual findings of who did lop the tree down and their motives, and much more entertaining than the real story, and it really keeps you guessing as to who and how it was carried out.

Before this main feature though, we were also treated to two other short plays which were just as entertaining.

The first was titled "Macbeth X 5", written by Kirsty Housley, which was set in a school and nicely blending modern day education systems and detention with some of the major talking points in Shakespeare's "Macbeth" like ambition and what the ambitions of the kids in detention were. I particularly had to smile when one lad's ambition was to simply grow a beard; how simplistic a young person's aims can be.

The main players in "Macbeth X 5" were Ali - Anya Pengally (Ali), Nikita Cosslett (B) and Will Burley (Jay). A different trio will feature at the Derby Theatre performance. 

The second was called "Cloudbusting", written by Helen Blakeman, and carried important messages in its' narrative.

Sam fully believes that today will just be another ordinary day – but that’s before Mr Mackie tells Class 8M to write a poem about someone they care about. Unexpectedly, Sam volunteers to write about Daisy… Daisy was Sam’s friend – not that Sam wanted anyone to know that. While the cool girls in the class thought Daisy was "cute in a sad dog sort of way", the tough boys – Morgan and his crew – just saw Daisy as different. Daisy liked to dance. Daisy liked to look at the clouds and see the shapes they made. Daisy liked looking at the world in a different way to everybody else. But no matter how much Sam liked being with Daisy, he always denied their friendship. Then one day, the bullying goes a step too far… It’s not the ordinary day Sam thought it was going to be.

The main characters are Lauren Glover (Sam), Amelie Wyvill (Daisy), Dylan Whistance (Morgan), Lily Rose Mr Mackie), Martha Clowery (Alicia), Other girls – Maryann Townsend & Madiyah Hussain and Studious girls – Anna Winnett & Heidi Worrall.

Three fascinating and entertaining plays all with a twist on what you may have expected, well certainly from what I had expected from just knowing the titles of the three pieces. This also shows some extremely mature performances from the young actors involved.