Porty show raises cash for Malawi

A STUDENT community theatre production, based on the history of Portobello, has raised more than £500 for charity at the box office.

The show, The Day the Aliens Came to Portobello, was developed by community theatre students from Queen Margaret University in conjunction with Towerbank Primary School.

Four performances of the play were staged at the newly refurbished Portobello Community Centre and £530 was raised for a charity in Malawi selected by the primary five pupils.

Irvine Alan, drama lecturer at Queen Margaret, said: “It has been very rewarding to see the students work so well with the primary fives. The pupils devised, designed, acted, stage-managed and controlled front of house for the whole production. Both students and pupils really rose to the challenge and there was a great sense of achievement in pulling the project off.

“The feedback from the parents has been excellent. We are immensely proud of Gillian Downie and Lindsay Duncan — the students who delivered the project. They are a credit to the university.”