The Curse of the Werewolf deals with a Scottish castle, a (possible) murder, a will, a family curse, a penguin and, of course, a werewolf. Let’s be honest, the penguin does not make much more sense in the story than it does in the summary of the play.
This young theatre company – sixteen-years old on average! – crowds the stage with its thirteen characters – penguin not included – for an improbable ‘horror comedy’ that is surprisingly well put together for such a young cast.
The show does leave the feeling of watching a younger sibling rehearsing his/her end-of-year school play. This being said, the young actors could teach a few things to some older, maybe more experienced, colleagues. Their energy is endless, and the chemistry between the characters creates a show that will not leave the audience time to get bored. They act their characters from the heart, a feature that, when lacking, could leave an audience indifferent to the most professional show. The stage direction is good, and the scenes are rather well organised. While some actors are still a bit too shy or awkward on stage, others are definitely talented and produce characters that make the audience laugh out loud, signalling some future, hopefully successful careers in acting.
One may regret the general tendency to over-acting, and the superficial stereotypicality of some of the characters. On the other hand, the puns will make the youngest giggle, while even the adults will jump out of their seats at some unexpected plot revelations, making this a not outstanding but nice, family show.
3/5
Adeline Amar
