Roverang, taking place annually, is the Scout and Guide Association's spectacle, including elements of dance, singing and comedy sketches. Roverang is an uplifting and inclusive performance; giving children from as young as 5 all the way up to 16 the opportunity to share their talent and build their own confidences in a safe and fun environment. Watching Roverang last night, I was moved by the community spirit and enthusiasm of so many of the cast, and I was able to reminisce as they performed many of the songs I used to sing as a Brownie, nearly 10 years ago.
Honestly, when I read the programme last night at 18:30 I was sceptical, presuming this would be another long kid’s performance which I wouldn’t enjoy. However, I was genuinely shocked by how emotive the performance was; welling up in the first number as around 20 young children ran on stage singing and dancing like there was no tomorrow. This isn’t to say that there weren’t some flaws. The story-line was essentially non-existent: there were brief moments of acting which acted as the foundations for each of the dances, which had no link to the story whatsoever. The play consisted of dancing around until pieces of the stage door magically appeared and then putting them in the play of the door. This made next to no sense, nonetheless, the play still stood and lacking narrative added to the authenticity of the performance.
The lighting of the play was slightly bizarre. The decisions seemed inappropriate, for example, having a green gobo and dingy green circling spots in the opening number, an uplifting choral performance, was an odd choice. Not only this, but more than once did the lights come up whilst the stagehands were still changing the set, and, most scandalously, the house lights came up accidentally mid-way through act 1. For me, this was a shame as these mistakes are just careless. Even so, this did not diminish the performance and actually enhanced the comedy, lifting the atmosphere. It must be said also, that throughout the entire evening, the spirit and ambience of the theatre was immense and I felt honoured to be a part of that. It is quite beautiful to see that there are still organisations that exist that are so pure and able to have an impact on so many lives.
The performance was at heart a karaoke extravaganza with actions. The choice of songs created a journey through the ages, including pre 2000 rock and 90s pop, right through to newer artists such as One Direction and Ed Sheeran, and many childhood classics, such as ‘Baby Shark’, ‘Big Fish, Little Fish’ and the famously popular Lego song, ‘Everything Is Awesome!'. This brought me right back to my adolescent years and was so much fun. A particular favourite of mine was 'Everytime We Touch' by Cascada. This performance consisted of 50 small children jumping in their own circles holding glow sticks. Oddly enough I felt like I was at a teenage house party and I really wanted to join them on stage. Another favourite had to be, “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran. This was soloed by one of the elder scouts and was an absolutely beautiful performance as the whole cast stood together earnestly watching the love song unfold.
My biggest criticism would be the insane length of the show, 3 hours! Even the best shows I’ve seen cannot maintain an audience’s concentration for longer than 2.5 hours. I feel it would have been a better use of time to have performed less numbers but had each one cleaned and perfected, particularly as a few older dancers didn’t know what they were doing. All things considered though, this performance was heart-warming and I would definitely be inclined to go and watch it next year, if perhaps it was a little shorter!
Reviewer - Grace McNicholas
on - 16/4/19
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