Well the golden tickets at Willy Wonka’s were so hot they were alight. Apparently on the first night the smoke machine got a bit excited and had to be extinguished and a full fire evacuation took place; but nothing deterred the youngsters in their performance of this excellent new musical by Rye College teachers Paul Harrison and Rhiannon Chillingworth.
It’s hard to know where to start on just what an achievement was created before our eyes on Friday July 12 when we watched the last performance. It’s been 10 years since the last production at Rye College, and the students presented a petition to say they wanted to put on a show, and boy, did they do just that.
In total collaboration with the students, Paul Harrison and Rhiannon Chillingworth wrote both the libretto and the music to this very modern-world production. When you come home singing Everybody loves a piece of chocolate, but remember to clean your teeth! it passed the old grey whistle test. There was talk of jammers, just-about-managing, hard- working modern, single-parent families. The oompa loompas had come over from a land so badly affected by climate change, “What will HRMC have to say about that?” said someone. Whilst some may have taken this as a reference to illegal immigrants, they were the kind ones who actually saved a child’s life. Everything was told to us by 24/7 news reporters in a very realistic way.
It was a wonderful experience from the moment you entered the building with beautifully crafted, over-sized flowers and chocolates adorning the foyer and the apron of the stage, thanks to the art department.
There was a real buzz in the audience in anticipation. The show was full of energy from the first moment everyone came on stage. There was clever use of stage devices, such as the puppetry fish in the river of chocolate that Augustus nearly drowns in, plus Violet’s gymnastics and other dance routines.
I’m not sure how they managed to inflate Violet’s costume as she grew into a giant blueberry, but it was brilliantly effective. The set made great use of revolving blocks, which were beautifully painted, and I loved the way that Paul and Rhiannon co-ordinated the use of music, lighting and sound tracks to portray time passing as children found their golden tickets.
It was also very much about keeping it in the family, as both Paul’s and Rhiannon’s children did steal the limelight on more than a couple of occasions in their delightful appearances as Oompa Lumpas. I was fortunate enough to sit next to Paul’s dad who said: “All Paul wanted to do was create memories for the young people” and he certainly achieved that. Not only for all those taking part, but for us too, who were reminiscent at memories of some 40 years ago when we too were students on Thomas Peacocke school stage, especially as we had the very wonderful experience of being in the audience alongside our simply incredible music teacher Miss Benton.
What is hard to believe is the age of these students. Back in the day it was VIth formers who took the lead. Tonight, young Molly as Charlie Bucket was just 13 years old, as she controlled the stage and had the audience in her hand. In the role of his mother, Mrs Bucket, Cecily has a beautiful voice. She knew just how to use the microphone technically, and coloured her songs with excellent dynamics. Real love and conviction came through her performance and here is a star to look out for in the future.
Young Ethan as Mike TV was just great – now with his own YouTube channel as an influencer, he was line-perfect and totally convincing as a young social media expert. “Too much screen time is bad for kids, and young Mike TV learnt that the hard way” as he became a virtual child somewhere in the ether. When Wonka sang his first song it was Gilbert and Sullivanesque in its long list of fine confectionary to be found at his fabulous chocolate factory. It was a delight to see Bailey just grow into this role as the show went on.
I understand that many of the students couldn’t make all the rehearsals because of all the other activities they were involved in, such as exchange trips and the like, but you wouldn’t have known this was almost the first time everyone had been on stage, just superb team work.
As the ticket winners were knocked off, the Oompa Loompas sang One more child down whilst walking through the audience, it was full of laughs for, as we all know, these are not nice children, and the modern message again about poor parenting, winning at any cost, over indulgence; basically no one likes a brat. But what echoed through, and was reiterated by Mr Harrison at the end, was that they wanted the musical to portray the values of the school, kindness being the most important. And young Charlie came across so genuinely in her portrayal of being a kind person. The value of family, respecting the elders in that family and what they sacrificed for the next generation was touchingly portrayed by Jazz as grandma.
And this goes to show just how very important events like this are in the journey of school life. For sure we have to learn English and maths and all the other standard subjects in a classroom, but somehow putting on a production like this shows us why. The big thing working at Rye Studio School taught me all those years ago was that not everyone learns in a classroom, and working together through project-based learning is an excellent model to get young people involved, caring about what and how they learn, and eager to create the end result – not just writing another essay!
Not only that, but there is something very special and very important about music, dance, and drama. They teach us so many skills that we take into adult life – self-discipline, team work, being on time, listening, respecting others, the list is endless. Also as we become so used to everything being on zoom, the importance of being able to walk into a space and command the room.
That ability to have self-control and self-confidence is hard to learn in our modern age, but stage craft teaches us that. So for all the next generation of CEOs and entrepreneurs this is why music and drama is important. Music touches our soul, and tonight certainly touched everyone in the hall as proud parents and teachers alike saw just what the coming together of these very young people at the outset of their lives can achieve. They told me how they had become a family; worked with people they didn’t know before but who became firm friends; learnt the importance and power of being part of a team. A lovely touch was the final curtain call was not taken by the lead players but by the team of stage crew.
So hats off to Mr Harrison, Mrs Chillingworth and all the other teachers involved. We know that this takes hundreds and hundreds of hours of hard work. But let us hope this is the way of things to come and book early to avoid disappointment next year because we very much hope this will now be an annual event.
Image Credits: Kt bruce .