When Richard Carruthers director/producer of the Nelson Theatre decided to take a small group of talented young actors to the Edinburg Festival Fringe with 13 weeks notice, Joel Sangster from Waimea College and his family didn’t hesitate. This was too good an opportunity for the young actor/singer to miss.
Already a seasoned performer, he appeared in A Christmas Carol at 13, Joel had been entertaining the family for years. His mum Amber says “it started when he was in his highchair and it hasn’t stopped.
Dancing, singing, putting on small shows for the family with his brother. So he joined the Nelson Theatre at 9 years of age and it’s been full-on, but the training has been excellent and prepared him well for the future.” To raise money for the trip Joel sold things at Nelson markets, busked and performed in shows in retirement homes, organised by Richard Carruthers.
He was also given donations from his local community who, along with his family, backed him all the way.
The company made a big impression in Scotland, even appearing in a national newspaper which had heard what it had taken for the young people to get to the festival and wrote that they embodied the ‘true spirit of the Fringe’.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a yearly event that attracts 35,000 performers and 3880 shows and for the Nelson Theatre’s sell out production of Grease Lightening to win ‘glowing appraisal from the UK press is no mean feat’. six of the eight performances were sold out and the audience reviews were excellent. “People loved the show said Richard, loved that it was Grease with real teenagers, and that we had come across the world to present it.”
As well as giving performances the young actors distributed flyers during the day advertising the show. They also had the opportunity to explore Edinburgh, see other shows, and when in London visit art galleries and St Pauls,”a fantastic opportunity,” said Joel’s granddad Conly Zimmermann who contacted the paper about his grandson.
The Fringe itself continues for another week, but school commitments mean the Nelson company is back home now. “But interest in returning next year is high, among those who had been this year and those who had missed out” said Richard. “The audiences were really close to the stage and they sang and danced along, it was amazing” said Joel on returning to Richmond.