Christine Clarke, NODA Thu, 2011-02-24 00:00

Not an easy play with which to hold your audience’s attention, although in itself it is a classic but this did not apply to Thursday night’s audience of Amadeus who seemed to be held to the end. The play was very strongly cast but mention must be made of Norman Hockley who played Antonio Salieri who was more than ably supported by the excellent performance from Steve Illidge as Emperor Joseph 11 and Jeremy Malpas as the mad Mozart. Norman Hockley’s performance was outstanding switching from narrating as old Salieri to the time and life of Mozart concluding with the taking of his own life. The play was well directed and costumed to the period and the very simple set with effective lighting worked well. Once again full marks to The Festival Players for attempting something different and pulling it off.