YANTS have put on another cracker!

Review by Emma Wilby

North Tawton Young Actors Society brought that old curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge to the town hall last week, but with a contemporary twist.

Although there were enough 'Bah! Humbugs' and chestnut-sellers to keep the traditionalists happy, Marley's ghost appeared as a leather-jacketed punk, the Ghost of Christmas Present was a posse of young rappers, and break-dancers mingled with ragged urchins in the market scenes.

The play, written by Malcolm Sircom, was enlivened by an inspired musical score that ranged from seasonal carols like Silent Night to quirky raps and catchy jazz-funk numbers.

The 27-strong cast, which was the YANTS' youngest group of children yet, put on a wonderfully exuberant performance, easily pulling large audiences away from their sofas and the X-Factor, and into the town hall for three nights in a row.

The cast contained many talented young singers, with rousing musical solos from Hamish Inglis, Edward Thompson, Josh Lee, Luke Western, Alfie Budd, Rosie O'Connell, Sophie Bending, Caitlin Nightingale, Casper Gray, Emily Fisher, Sasha and Shantelle Alford, Amy Bishop and Wendy Down.

These were backed up by fine performances from Rowan Perrior, Elliot Hole and Jade Mansfield.

Great support was also provided by Simon Alford, Hannah Budd, Shannon Hill, Lucy and Jessica Kennedy, Sophie McKenna-Smith, Hayden Perrior, Ben Phillips, Jasmin Quick and Jemima Western.

The production also enjoyed musical direction from Louise Mott, street-dance choreography from Mandy Wall, sound from Nicholas Orbell and lighting from Mathew Armstrong and Declan Barber, with many other people helping during rehearsals and backstage.

Finally, the show could not have come together without the artistic vision and sheer hard work put in by director Wendy Hill and her assistant P J Gray.

Starting in 1999, this is the eleventh time that Wendy has pulled a great show out of her hat, and over the years she has encouraged a huge proportion of North Tawton's youth to slap on the greasepaint, walk the town hall boards and sing their hearts out –and all well before anyone had ever heard of Simon Cowell.

Now even Scrooge himself couldn't grumble about that.