Aberfeldy Drama Club Christmas Show

Individual performances were strong and impressive, and there was an opportunity for each player to shine at something, whether in verse, song or dance. Deborah Kerr’s rendition of the traditional “Cherry Tree Carol” was very easy listening, and the audience loved Kevin McNiven’s transition from a naughty little boy into a jack-in-a-box in the Jabez Dawes scene.

But it was 11-year-old Neal Ford playing the angel in William Gibson’s “Butterfingers Angel” who delighted the audience as he struggled to persuade an unconvinced Mary (Emma Carmichael) that she was, indeed, just about to fall pregnant!

Interspersed with the several comic scenes were more serious moments of reflection on the meaning of Christmas, particularly well demonstrated in the cast’s narration, with Polly Pullar, of twentieth century poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s “Christ Climbed Down”, a scathing attack on the commercialisation of Christmas.

Towards the end of the show, in the unlikely circumstance that any of the audience had nodded off, they would soon have been woken up dramatically by the stentorian alto voice coming from the direction of the piano at the foot of the stage, when Frances McCallum stood and sang a traditional Gospel song “Mary Had A Baby”. Accompanied by the cast, Frances’ voice lent itself to that medium, and for a moment Aberfeldy felt like deepest Mississippi!

Frances should be given credit, too, for being responsible for the Music Direction of the entire show, for if any one thing really stood out, it was the music and the singing.