A HEAVILY female dominated cast from the Georgian Theatre Royal Youth Theatre presented a piece in two halves – Talking Angels exploring the life of Joan of Arc and The Trojan Women highlighting the plight of ordinary women in the aftermath of war.

Serious, anguished and unashamedly feminist, the characters narrated the stories in between the onstage action. Slightly word-heavy at times, this effect was amplified by the speed with which some of the actors delivered their lines.

I wondered whether a more rounded effect could have been achieved if the scenery, lighting, props and stage direction had been more evident. The choice of background music however was excellent – a haunting ballad by James Blunt entitled No Bravery – which did much to set the scene and create the mood.

Neil Duffield’s play nicely captured the tension between "Jumping Joan", the humble peasant girl and inspirational leader who gained a king’s support. Lola Cross, Amy Raymond and Erin Capstick elegantly brought to life the "voices" responsible for inspiring young Joan to believe she had been chosen by God. Symbolically, they also formed the flames when Joan was burnt at the stake as a witch.

Post interval there were some distracting visual anomalies during the reworking of the Euripedes play – with Greek gods wearing spectacles and "peasant" costumes of garish patterns. Hollie Kingston commanded the stage as the wretched Hecuba and Katie Taplin perfectly captured the edgy instability of Cassandra. Lewis Hayes gave a powerful, if relatively brief, performance as King Menelaus.

Despite plenty of passion and despair, such uninterrupted anguish can have a desensitizing effect on an audience. More variation in the pace, volume and tone of delivery might have alleviated this and added richness and realism to both plays.

Christina McIntyre