Wargrave Theatre Workshop WEDGE presents
THE OREGON TRAIL

23rd June 2007
7.30 - 10.30 pm
at the marquee on Mill Green

Part of the Saturday Night Entertainment
of the 2007 Wargrave Festival

ADMISSION FREE with a voluntary bucket donation

The 1840s saw the movement of settlers seeking land in the far West. Families gathered a few possessions to travel 2000 miles from Missouri to Oregon to claim the free land being offered by Congress. The journey took months through the last outposts of civilisation; there were many difficulties and dangers and Indians, although not all were hostile as will be seen from this account of a small group who set out from Missouri in 1845.

With lively musical numbers, members of WEDGE will be re-enacting part of this trek, showing the suffering of the old, the boredom of the young, the resignation of those who did not complete the trek, the optimism of those who pressed on, and the pain of two 'star-crossed' young lovers.

REVIEW: Wedge Blaze a Trail!

The Oregon Trail to be precise… The talented youngsters of Wedge, directed by Ann Roberts and Chez Payne-Annetts and choreographed by Tonya Greene, turned in another inspired performance at the family entertainment evening of the Festival.

A lively and fast-paced mixture of songs, dance and dialogue had the appreciative audience clapping and laughing and singing along with old favourites such as ‘Rawhide’ and ‘The Farmer and the Cowman’. Accomplished performances by Tom Warlow as Matthew Swain the trail boss and William Doward as his son Jessie – who was overwhelmed with potential sweethearts: Emily Pepper as the lovelorn Water Bird; Olivia McCormick as the determined Charlotte Dockery and Charlotte Mills as the coy Louisa. The dance troupe wowed everyone with their high kicking numbers while Ellen Snell as Old Ma Sherman and Ella and Holly McCormick as Deadwood City’s Annie provided other memorable performances as did soloist Claire Linstead as Calamity Jane.

My only criticism of the show is that I wanted it to go on longer – what better accolade could there be for any performance? SC