The Foresight Players: An Evening's Entertainment:
For the past six months, seven brave members of Grimsby's Foresight Project have been learning drama skills at the hands of local coach David Wrightam.
Their efforts culminated in this gala show at the Whitgift Film Theatre, the third performance in two days of a revue of songs, dancing, comedy sketches and old fashioned variety fun.
Normally such an event would be nothing remarkable but these actors are either visually Impaired or blind, and their performance was a remarkable achievement in learning lines without the usual written scripts and negotiating stage settings from memory alone.
They performed excellently.
The Entertainment:
The programme gave us a veritable variety of entertainment. Charles Merry delighted the audience with his Marriott Edgar monologue of The Lion and Albert, while Penny Jackson
delivered I Wish I'd Looked After My Teeth in true Pam Ayres style.
On the poetry side though, Jan Lewis was the star with her brilliant portrayal of the diminutive schoolgirl reciting The Long Goodbye, and It Wasn't Me.
For acting, there were many comic sketches of which the appearances of John Cremen and Martin Sands in drag as two hapless old housewives whose reminiscences of the old days were hilarious and extremely well delivered.
The highlight was an ensemble sketch titled Wilfred Winterbottom. In this parody of James , Bond, special agent Wilfred sets out to retrieve the fabled Maltese Brass Monkey with the hidden microfilm. This was an excellent, humorous script, well written and executed with Martin Sands starring as Wilfred.
Infectious Enthusiasm:
We even enjoyed line dancing and the voice of Julie Daulton who, as special guest singer, performed two enjoyable sets of varied music featuring songs from the West End shows and classics from Cilla Black.
David Wrightam appeared in a solo spot as Joseph, recalling the life of Jesus, but it was the Foresight Players themselves who took pride of place. Their unpretentious joy in their art and infectious enthusiasm was wonderful. They began the evening as seven names on a programme, but by the end of the show I felt I knew them all.
The Cast:
Jan Lewis, Sid Owen, Elaine Owen, Penny Jackson, John Cremen, Martin Sands, Charles Merry and Teddy the Guide Dog.
Line dancers:
Randall Lewis. Jan Lewis, Penny Jackson, Anne Purcell, Jean Barber, Mike Harrison, Michelle Kiff, Lesley Emptage, and Brenda Maill.
David Peasgood
