Tonight was the final performance of The Year 3&4 Production and what a stunning ‘knock out’ night it proved to be! Year 4 delivered lines that were so slick and hilarious that the audience was literally rolling in the isles! I can honestly say that I have not been so entertained by a theatre night in years…and we have visited the West End a couple of times this year!
Tara Khemlani played Robin Hood with a beaming smile that lit up the stage whilst Isobel Mitchell brought humour in spade loads as she played Nursie…delivery and timing are the true dark arts in drama! Vikrum Shah produced a truly evil laugh every time he set foot on the stage, playing the Sheriff of Nottingham. Ridhi Sofat brought such vibrance and engagement as she tried to turn the Merry Men from a performing troop into soldiers of war…but failed as they were all simply too nice! We had 2 wonderful double acts in Adam Virani and Yuvraj Chahal, the menacing torturers of the dungeons; and James Meinck and Anirudh Sharma, who were an unlikely set of spies who found themselves in a lot of trouble! Aradhya Singh sat at the top table as King John and was suitably demanding until he met his demise with an arrow in the ‘derriere’! And Vharsan Theebaraj produced the moment of the performance with a ‘shimmy…shimmy…jazz hands’ that brought the house down!
The singing, dancing and bright-eyed engagement of everyone from Year 3 and Year 4 made for a truly enjoyable evening that would rival any night out in London…my only regret is that the curtain closed! This morning I ran around Middle School to congratulate the children – expecting subdued and lacklustre replies…only to find energised exuberant faces living off the adrenaline from the night before. This proves that our children have both levels of resilience and talent that defy expectation! Congratulations and thank you to Beccy Gascoigne, Heather Toyn and the entire Middle School team for blowing me away! But the final words must go to the children – you were and are amazing!
Tim Calvey