Queen's Production of 'Oliver!'

“There was a sense of relief and joy at just being able to watch live acting and to listen to live music again”

Queen’s puts on a musical every two years and this year’s ‘Oliver!’ was one of the few school shows anywhere in the UK last autumn. The two years since 2020’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ have put many constraints on rehearsing a musical. Firstly, the rehearsal period had to be intense to avoid Covid disrupting the performances and even then, two year groups had to rehearse separately during an outbreak. All seven year groups at the College were involved, meaning auditions and casting for Class 3 took place while they were still at primary school. Even the auditions took place remotely. But the show went on! Speaking to audience members each night, there was a sense of relief, joy even, at just being able to watch live acting and to listen to live music again, to be able to celebrate the talent of young people and witness the community spirit of Queen’s in person. It was a truly uplifting experience for so many of us involved; a sign maybe that we can feel we may actually be on our way back to some sort of normality.

There were 54 pupils involved in the cast, the band and the backstage team: around 15% of the entire College. The show was directed and produced by Ms Beckie Mills, Acting Director of Drama and conducted by Mr Kieran Hughes, Director of Music.