A worthwhile experience (Riding Lights)

Member Name: rosvian

Product:	Riding Lights
Date:	27/07/01 (59 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fresh entertaining theatre, Wide range of talent, Excellent community spirit

Disadvantages: Quite far to travel to some performances as there are not enough members yet!!

The Riding Lights Theatre Company is a Christian Theatre company based in York. They have been running for quite a while now, but only moved into the present premises a few years ago. They produce many plays, some of which have been written by their own writers and others of which they have adapted from other well-known stories. Recent plays include, Dick Turpin, The Alchemist and First Hand. The first of these are fairly well known. First Hand, however, was written by a member of Riding Lights. It is about the early Church and sacrifices people made in the name of their religion.
Riding Lights also produce 2 touring groups each year. These are called Roughshod and contain 4 (sometimes 5) members each. These groups tour one main show, of which First hand is a current one, and one revue show. The revue show contains a series of short sketches, generally very comical, but carrying a very serious message. The roughshod groups are very adaptable and can perform in spaces as divers as prisons, schools, and churches as well as the more “classical” drama spaces. The plays are always of an extremely high standard and guarantee an entertaining evening for both Christians and non-Christians. Visiting their web site will give you more of an idea of what they are about, but I recommend a visit to either a York based play or a roughshod play.
Riding Lights have a passion for people, and they are very active within their community. During the summer, they run a Summer School for people age 14 + with a range of acting abilities. Having attended this Summer School three times in the past three years, I can highly recommend it. The courses are fantastic, the tutors are very talented and you will make friendships that will last a very long time. Again there are further details about this on their web site.
There are also many publications from their writers, including books on staging a performance as well as scripts to their most popular revue shows. r>As a summary, a trip to a Riding Lights show will both entertain and inform you. They have a fresh and interesting way of telling stories that you may well have heard before. They are funny, kind and caring people and you are guaranteed to receive a warm welcome from them, whatever context you see them in.