60 students from City of Portsmouth College enjoyed a night of classic British comedy compliments of New Theatre Royal Portsmouth and touring theatre company New Old Friends. The show, Houdini’s Greatest Escape, follows famous escapologist Harry Houdini and his wife Bess as they struggle to escape the plot against them as they are framed for murder.
The students that attended are on the ESOL course at the college, which is English for Speakers of Other Languages. The group of 60 was compiled of refugees, asylum seekers and first-generation immigrants.
ESOL lecturer Gulsah Robertson said “This is an excellent opportunity for our learners to see a live comedy show in a traditional and old theatre. The opportunity to share this experience with friends and family will make it all the more special. Your generosity in providing us with free tickets allowed us to create lasting memories together, ones that we will cherish for years to come.”
New Old Friends’ inimitable, award-winning style of physical comedy and sparkling wit lowered the potential language barrier for some of these students as the physical storytelling complemented the script.
The original offer to the college was for 40 tickets, but the moment the opportunity was presented, all tickets were claimed and there was a waiting list for more! The offer was therefore increased to 60 tickets and the students were really excited to visit the theatre, especially as many of them had never been to a theatre before.
The feedback from students was excellent: Gezime said “Thank you very much for the theatre tickets you gave me! We really liked the theme, we laughed a lot and were impressed with the magic! It was a very good Comedy and a very nice experience! Thank you”
Andrii commented that “4 actors kept all the audience in awe for more than 2 hours, transforming into huge number of characters. Action, drama, detective, comedy. All-in-one plus an elephant”
New Theatre Royal and New Old Friends were delighted to be working with City of Portsmouth College to offer cultural enrichment to the group and hope to see many of them back at the theatre in the future.