Her Majesty’s Theatre in the heart of the West End gave over the stage on Sunday 3rd March evening for an hour-long one-off performance of The Box a new musical written by Jen Bird and Simon Driscoll.
The young cast in the musical were all children who have benefited from the SpotlightUK services. They performed the heartfelt story of a young girl played by Amy Miles as seen below, as she is trying to come to terms and make sense of the death of her father. The metaphor of the box is the place where all her feelings and emotions have been buried to keep her safe from feeling.
The musical was delivered to the audience through a combination of dialogue, singing and dancing. Which flowed smoothly through the girl’s difficult timeline of counselling and acceptance of her grief.
There was only one older member of the cast playing the role of the child counsellor. It was extremely well done as it showed the correct way in which a counsellor works. Where they allow you to find your own way through your pain and problems rather than the misconception that they tell you what to do in order to get better or in this case to come out of the box. The box used in the production can be seen in the photo below.
For these young performers, it must have been an amazing opportunity to perform in the same venue which is home at the moment to the long-running award-winning musical The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Llyod Webber.
The whole cast can be seen in the photo above.
The musical score was extremely well composed and performed, the excellent acoustics in the theatre enhanced the sound. It has been constructed thoughtfully as it dealt with such a difficult, heartbreaking and often awkward subject to approach, especially for and with children.
My Daughter, who is 14 was moved by some of the performances and understood the message clearly addressed through the musical. It would be a very good performance for larger audiences of teenagers. As grief is experienced by people of all ages.
All monies from this event helped raise money for SpotlightUK. They offer a wide range of services to help children. Check out the website below to find out more.
Cast
The Girl-Amy Miles
The Hider-Louisa Riley
The Therapist-Jen Ramsey
Ensemble
Ashton Batchelor
Dylan’s Batchelor
Georgia Batchelor
Nikita Cannings
Katy Fincham
Aaliyah Harmer
Grace Kirkham
Rutendo Murifi
Jess Riley
Miley Richardson
Poppy Richardson
Tocara Rowe
Shyanne Tocher
Summer Tocher
Jack Walker.
Co-Choreographer-Lauren Bignold.
Co-writers and directors
Jen Bird
Simon Driscoll.
Photo credits courtesy of SpotlightUK.
Further details on Simon and Jen’s upcoming projects can be found on http://www.TomorrowBird.com
@TheBox_Musical
For more information about Spotlight services please visit http://www.SpotlightUK.org
@SpotlightUK
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