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Reviews of the following can be found on serparate pages:
Hamlet, South Pacific and A Few Good Men were performed in the school hall with the casts being drawn mostly from sixth form students. Lower school pupils performed an abridged, musical version of Romeo and Juliet, a double production of the musical The Pied Viper and an abridged version of The Tempest. Robert Henry has written a review of a performance of the The Pied Viper which was given at Rivacre Valley Primary School in Ellesmere Port. Assassins by Stephen Sondheim The King’s School, ever keen to tackle serious musicals, has staged a stunning production of Assassins, arguably Stephen Sondheim's most original, disturbing and exquisitely scored show. Assassins peers into the heart of the American Dream through the eyes of the nine men and women who attempted to assassinate the President of the USA. ‘America is a society where any kid can grow up to be President, and any kid can grow up to be his killer’. Four succeeded. Sondheim tells the assassins’ stories in a whirl of musical styles from pop duets to barber shop quartets, marching bands to country ballads, traditional Broadway to quasi-operatic. The numbers are as varied as the assassins themselves making this a challenging and demanding work. A talented cast pulled it off with immense brio, energy and sophistication. The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht A starkly bleak foil to the familiar surroundings of the School, Josh Hatfield’s white set is anything but a reflection of the tempestuous snowstorm that rages during the performance. Simplistic in the extreme, the set serves both as a blank screen on which location and mood can be conveyed via the production’s evocative lighting and as a representation of the relatively uncorrupted world into which the play’s title character emerges. Arturo Ui, both a parallel with Hitler and a menacing figure in his own right, dominates the night. Depicted by Oli Stratford as a small-time gangster whose rise in power corresponds with a descent further and further into murder, betrayal and obsession with control, Ui convincingly stands out as the leader above the gangsters who fall under his wing – Josh Penrhyn-Jones’ calculating florist Givola, Ardy Danielewicz’s permanently excited Giri and Lawrence Gibson’s semi-tragic Roma, a man whose trust and concern strive to redeem him from the sinister activities that he and his men engage in. The playwright’s scorn, however strongly he despised the Nazi Party who rose to control his native land, finds itself targeting those who failed to prevent events rather than just those who perpetrated them. Considered to have the blackest heart of all the play’s characters by Brecht himself, Jacob Newman’s Dogsborough stands as a man whose unflinching status as a moral icon crumbles as it becomes little more than a tool for Ui to use and then discard. As the play moves into its second half, an increasing number of scenes begin to take place in the central set, indicating that Ui is becoming a figure around whom events revolve rather than one who seizes his chance by using events already set in motion. The Cauliflower Trust, a representation of the German bourgeoisie, finds its attempts to ensure future success little more than a hole through which Ui and his gangsters can operate. Even formidable opposition in the form of Katrina Griffin’s Nancy Dullfeet eventually bows down to Ui, who ends the play by transforming himself into a de facto dictator of cauliflower willing to leave a trail of blood across the stage for the sake of his advancement. The question one immediately asks of the play concerns the possible enjoyment that can be gained from a play that was created as a parable of Hitler’s rise to power, perhaps more of a blunt political statement than a storyline in its own right. It is a reflection of Brecht’s high artistry, the confident performances of the varied cast and Josh’s directorial skill and dedication that Arturo Ui succeeds, proving itself to be highly enjoyable and yet tremendously thought-provoking. One is left with the impression that the play is rather more than a transposed sequence of historical events. Joe Lloyd (L6AM) Robin Hood, the musical It is the 12th century. King Richard goes to fight the Saracens in the Crusades, but…. Well you know the story ( I even remember Richard Greene, my black-and-white Granada TV hero, twanging his arrow into Sherwood trees!) and played out against a splendidly evocative set by Mr Lloyd and Ms Black, excellently lit by Alex Butler and Simon Johnson, the Lower School troupe gave us exhilarating entertainment. BUT, did you know that Maid Marian – how times have changed – was a feisty deadshot hotshot? Helena Cooke looked lovely and sang with purity and vigour, but this was no sleeping beauty – she shoots arrows more accurately than German penalty-takers - and our heroine feistily named her own terms of marriage. Our hero , Rory Benson, matched her in voice and confidence but was, I suspect, pleased to escape with a draw at the end of their humorous final duet. AND did you know that Friar Tuck (great, Luke Robinson) was a ‘roly-poly rocker’; and what about the witch – which witch I hear you ask? – flown in from another fairy-tale but brilliantly played by cackling Corinne Robinson with a voice of chilling malevolent relish. She was equally haunting when the action switched from her as she remained focussed and in character conjuring from her crystal ball; a great talent. Thank GOODNESS for the ‘goodies’ aka The Hot-Shot Team and The Minstrels whose ensemble singing and choreography were a delight. From amongst their number, Ashleigh Milner delivered a wonderful solo – poised and poignant. And we needed this to counteract THE BADDIES: The dastardly, devilish Prince John (boo!) played and sung with great panache by Luke Howarth – a cross between Hannibal Lector and Alvin Stardust- and Serge Osula as the Sheriff (boo!) who bestrode the stage aggressively and imposingly. Both were roundly booed at the end –mainly by me, lads – fully deserved on account of their villainy and vitality. And my two favourites? Miss Andrews, at once elated and exhausted at her curtain-call, (THANK YOU and well done), and The Deer – no dear, just the one, a roaming roe or dawdling doe – played exquisitely by John Marsden – always in character, always inventive, always animal. Remarkable. The whole-cast finale was a rousing medley of songs and gave free rein to the virtuosity of pianist Michael Cannon. The cast expressed great energy and joy which were reciprocated by a foot-stompin’, hand-clappin’, aisle-rollin’ audience who enjoyed a very merry time. Thank you folks; you did us all proud! John Hargreaves SOUTH PACIFIC - “There is Nothin’ Like a Dame”
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical has lost none of its appeal since it first hit Broadway in 1949 with show-stopping numbers like “I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy”, “Some Enchanted Evening” and “Bali Ha’i”. Its thought provoking treatment of love, the beauty of life, the ugliness of racism and the angry realisation of how prejudice is fostered when Lieutenant Cable sings “Carefully Taught” make it just as relevant 54 years after winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The upper sixth is blessed with some fine voices and actors. Head Girl, Helen Forster gave a towering performance as Bloody Mary. Vicky Gallagher sang the part of Nellie beautifully, capturing the small town attitudes of the ensign from Little Rock, Arkansas. Rob Gifford, who has gained a place in the National Youth Choir, was perfectly cast as Lieutenant Cable and Ben Griffiths brought the house down with Luther Billis’s impersonation of a Polynesian girl. A FEW GOOD MEN ….and one good woman Oscar winning actor, Jack Nicholson, was the inspiration for this courtroom tour de force adapted, directed by and starring, sixth former, Colin Coulter. Colin is a great fan of the talented Mr Nicholson, in particular his performance in the movie, “A Few Good Men”. It was Colin’s dream, some might say obsession, to bring this drama about the conflict between honour and duty to the King’s stage. “Santiago is dead and that is a tragedy. But he is dead because he had no code. He is dead because he had no honor and God was watching.” The exploration of the abuse of power that can occur when the military is isolated from the democracy it serves was particularly relevant given the current situation in Iraq and the detention of terrorist suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Indeed, the murder at the heart of the drama is committed in Guantanamo Bay.
To direct one’s peers; to lay
down a heavy rehearsal schedule during holidays and weekends;
to produce a play of that quality
in just eight weeks and to inspire such dedication from the whole
team require special skills. Colin realised his dream. This was
drama of the highest order.
It all started at the beginning of term with notices all round school saying things like ‘The Pied Viper is coming - hissssss’
Robert Henry BACK
TO TOP |
The
main dramatic production of the year, the outstanding cast
and backstage crew united to give three performances that
soared far beyond even Director, Dr Anne-Marie McMahon’s
expectations. Members of the audience literally were on the
edge of their seats as the lighting technicians created eerie
pools of darkness, building a sense of unease and tension
for the first appearance of the ghost. What followed was
an amazing piece of theatre as what is essentially a family
tragedy was played out with a sensitivity and maturity far
beyond the actors’ years.
“There is Nothin’ Like a Dame” may be echoing
through the corridors of the King’s School when it welcomes
girls throughout the school in September but it was belting out
to packed audiences as sixth form students staged “South
Pacific”.
The
musical was also the last time the astonishing singing and acting
talents of David Whitley will be seen on the King’s
stage before he heads off to Oxford. David has appeared in countless
productions since he joined the school age 11. This academic year
alone has seen him play Claudius in “Hamlet”, Captain
Markinson in “A Few Good Men” and Emile de Becque,
the lead role in South Pacific. He also played a major part in
the sixth form drama evening 
Fresh
from the rigours of Hamlet, Nick Bowling gave a totally convincing
performance as the cocky, young naval lawyer. Chloe
Southorn, the one good woman in the play, captured well the impassioned,
tough-minded stance of co-counsel, Lieutenant Commander Galloway,
unfazed by her presence in the macho world of the Marine Corps.
The sheer power of every single actor on stage contributed to the
suspense that preceded Colin’s masterly portrayal of Colonel
Jessup as he was finally goaded during cross-examination into admitting
he ordered a Code Red and the murder of a fellow marine. 
When
the auditions came, Miss Andrews was worried that we wouldn’t
get the whole cast, but in the end, just enough people turned up
for the parts. After many practices and Miss Andrews losing half
of her hair, we were ready to perform. The first performance could
have possibly been better, but we pulled through in the end. The
second performance was absolutely brilliant, and not even the tiniest
thing went wrong. After this, Miss Andrews came to the cast and
said “ How would you like to perform to a small
primary school? It would be good for the community with the anti-drugs
theme, and, of course,
it would get you an afternoon off school!”
So
it was set then, ‘Miss Andrews and her portable actors
co.’ was set up and ready to go. So on Friday 4th July, 3
members of the cast went in Miss Andrews’ car and the rest
crammed in a minibus, ready to go to Rivacre Valley Primary School
in Ellesmere Port. It was a really nice school, with not too many
pupils. They were all aged from about 7 to 11 years old, and for
children of that
age they were extremely well behaved.