Newbury Youth Theatre stars of the Fringe

Actors showered with praise as the rain buckets down at the Edinburgh Festival

Edinburgh has been deluged with constant torrential rain that caused a river of water to roll down the High Street but it didn't dampen the spirits of Newbury Youth Theatre who were performing their adaption of Gogol's The Portrait to great critical acclaim at the Quaker Meeting House.

Carmody Wilson gave Newbury Youth Theatre a resounding five stars in The Herald. She said: “There are certain companies who create a well deserved buzz before hitting the Edinburgh boards, and once in the theatre city, manage to sustain the goodwill of audiences through the excellence of their offerings…

“Wise words would stand most of the characters in Gogol's The Portrait in good stead, as their quest for riches leads them only to tragedy. Returning to their spectacular, anarchic best is Newbury Youth Theatre in this funny, well-acted, and brilliantly realised production. There is a buzzing,purposeful busyness at the core of every perfectly constructed scene, and it's dynamite to watch.

“There is never an opportunity wasted here, every moment, word and piece of music is exactly as it should be. Newbury Youth Theatre is an exciting and dynamic young company others could learn from.”

They also received five stars from The British Theatre Guide and four stars from Ediburgh Guide.com and EdinburghFringe who said: “staggering in its ambition and wholly successful in its execution, a terrific example of talent matched with concept.”

NYT also gained five stars from The British Theatre Guide and four stars from the Edinburgh Guide and the Edfringe Review “staggering in its ambition and wholly successful in its realization, a terrific and decisive example of talent matched with concept.”

The youth theatre have been having fun flyering in the High Street all dressed in their Russian costumes and accosting passers byes to pose in the empty picture frames creating great interest as they then tried to sell them tickets for the show.

They also performed the songs from the show on the Lower High Street stage to large crowds who applauded enthusiastically.

This will be the last year at the Fringe for several members. Callum Battersby has participated in six Edinburgh Fringes and Matt Hodgkin four. They are both going to Bournemouth Arts University to study acting and film production respectively.

Callum felt that “without a doubt this has been the best thing I've done with NYT. There was a great feeling when you know you've got a good show, every year gets better and better.”

Whilst Matt thought it was “the biggest risk that I've seen us take, but we pulled it off. It's a once in a lifetime experience to come to the Fringe, a tremendous opportunity that definitely helped me to get into university when I mentioned it at the interview”.

It was Jenny Jones' first year and she found it hard to believe that she was performing in the largest arts festival in the world.

Amy and Tony Trigwell-Jones have been directing NYT for the past 11 years. “Over the years NYT have become a significant part of the festival with audiences coming back time and time again. What more can a youth theatre from a small market town expect or want,” they said.

“It is our mission to work with young people who just want to have a go and develop their theatre and social skills. It's gratifying that we've established ourselves as one of the best youth theatres in the country,” said Tony.

Most of the members were watching as many other shows as possible. Sian Jenkins felt that “you learn so much from seeing other performances deciding what works and what doesn't”.

Life in the university's flats has been hectic but this year many of the youngsters had time to cook and participated in their own version of Come Dine With Me, with each flatmate taking it in turns to cook for the rest with some varying results.

Martha Minall particularly liked returning to The Quaker Meeting House. “It's a homely venue and the Quakers are sweet. I loved this show and I'm very proud of it,” she said.

Newbury Youth Theatre have now returned home safely, very happy, but thoroughly exhausted. It's been an amazing experience.