Dalriada School – The Return of the Bard!

Recent years have seen the school produce musicals – Footloose last year, The Sound of Music, Joseph, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

In fact it has been many years now since a non-musical has made an appearance in the John Armstrong Hall. But this year sees the return of someone very special to the stage – William Shakespeare with his wonderful play, “Twelfth Night”.

Previously Mr Roy Alcorn produced the play in 1983. And Mr Ted Gordon before him in 1945, 1955 and 1966. This year’s producers are Rachel Millican and Terry Hunter, both from the English Department in the school. Terry was taught by Mr Alcorn and remembers vividly the finer points of the Elizabethan pun as explained by Roy and it was in Roy’s classroom that Terry acquired and developed his taste for drama. Rachel is Roy’s daughter and sees this production as a personal tribute to her father. She told The Times, “I’ve included a few references in the play to my dad, things that maybe only I can see, or my family. I’m enjoying this opportunity to make a special tribute to him in my own way.”

The play is a riotous comedy but with a dark heart. There are the usual Shakespearean elements of disguise and mistaken identity, love and heartache, trickery and treachery! There are also a number of surprises – in fact the team have adopted the motto: “Expect the unexpected!” The famous opening line of the play, “If music be the food of love, play on!” sets the mood and the style for this production – but perhaps not quite in the way you might expect…

The cast and crew promise that it will be a fantastic night of fun for audiences of all ages, so put the new dates in your diary – Thursday 2nd, Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th December, Dalriada School – The Return of the Bard!