Am-Dram (or 'That Hideous Moment When A Friend Says "I'm in a play!")

Okay, so I am not the biggest fan of amateur dramatics. I love going to the theatre, but when I go, I like to watch professional actors confidently taking possession of the stage, beautifully extravagant costumes, singers who can actually sing and comedy that is actually funny. However, three of my best friends are in two different youth drama groups, and this means that I am regularly guilt-tripped into attending what I generally predict to be a cringe-worthy couple of nights tortur-- oops, sorry I meant entertainment. As luck *cough* would have it, these two delightful prospects happened to occur over the same weekend (the weekend before my birthday, can I just add). However, to everyone's - not least my own - surprise, at this point I have to respectfully swallow my catty remarks and sarcastic jibes. Because I bloody enjoyed both of them.

The first, which cost a rip-off £12, turned out not to be a rip-off at all. The more 'professional' of the two, a stage version of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast", was in turns hysterical, endearing, poignant and admirable. An old acquaintance of mine played Gaston, and the mockery opportunities I acquired watching him flounce about the stage in tights and a ridiculous wig, posing, pouting, flexing and swaggering were worth the admission all on their own. That, I'll admit, contributed vastly to my entertainment, but Belle had a truly beautiful singing voice (and her grandma was sat in front of me, announcing how proud she was in a genuinely heartwarming way), the Beast aced the growly voice, Lumiere camped it up to a degree that literally had me clutching my sides in laughter and absolutely everyone gave it their all - there wasn't a weak link in the lot. You could see why it cost so much - the costumes were extraordinary, the set extravagant and the effects surprising -- it was overall the most professional amateur performance I have ever seen.

Which meant that I was even more apprehensive of the second - 'History-onics 3'; of which I have seen and, er, slept through the two prequels. Two of my friends were in this, which is much more child-friendly and therefore much less professional; more than twice the cast, and split into a series of sketches rather than an overall plot. It would be unfair to compare the two; Beauty and the Beast was for older, more dedicated students, whilst History-onics is more for the participants than the audience. The group is split into a younger and older section, with the first half being the younger's - and everything I expected. Cringey, dull, devoid of confidence and really unpleasant. I mean, good for the kids for getting up on stage in the first place, but I'm not the type of doe-eyed mother who should be watching, and it didn't consist of acting so much as monotoned line-recital. But when my friends - the older category - came on, it all warmed up a bit. Seeing your best friend in a nun's habit is hilarious to begin with, but couple it with watching said best friend's younger sister flirting outrageously with a young lad alluding to her "MASSIVE....er, teeth", and then being dragged away by the nun with the words "Mary was a virgin you know!" ringing through the theatre, and you have comedy gold.

So I willingly swallow all my harsh words of amateur dramatics - they've made my weekend, and almost persuaded me to get involved....(I did say 'almost'...)