The eagerly anticipated Junior School production of the hilarious Pirates of the Curry Bean will be opening later this month.
With camera and video recorder in hand, I went to find out more about the show from its production team: Mrs Reedman, Miss Taylor and Mr Attree and three of the cast: Millie, Sienna and Aksel (all Year 5).
Mr Ball: Why did you choose Pirates of the Curry Bean – what a wonderful title – for this year’s Junior School production?
Miss Taylor: It’s mainly because the story and all of the accompanying music comes from the same company – Musicline School Musicals – who we used so successfully two years ago for our Splash production.
Mr Attree: We had also seen the production in another school and just knew the songs would be right for our children.
Mr Ball: What have been your biggest challenges in producing the show?
Mrs Reedman: Scheduling all of the children together for rehearsals as they are all so busy with so many activities offered here at OLA.
Mr Attree: Staging has been another one as we have all of the Key Stage 2 children involved. 38 children in total, so getting a big enough stage set up to accommodate them all has been trickier than we thought.
Miss Taylor: We have had a lot of help from other staff. Mrs Graham, Miss Hitchins and Mrs Alder have done an amazing job of making all of our props, painting the backdrop, making palm trees, barrels, treasure chests and costumes.
Mrs Reedman: Nothing is bought in we try and create everything we need in terms of props.
Miss Taylor: Mr Farrow and Mrs Beckett have also been a great support, providing help with singing the songs during our music lessons.
Mr Ball: Without giving away too much tell me a bit about the story.
Miss Taylor: The story is about twins Jack and Liza Periwinkle who are looking for adventure, and stumble across a real-life treasure map!
But when the infamous Redbeard and his Pirates of the Curry Bean steal the map and kidnap their mother, the race is on to rescue her, reclaim the map and find the treasure!
Accompanied by their faithful cat Fiddlesticks, the twins join a mad admiral and his crazy crew on a voyage of adventure that takes them from Old London Docks to the mysterious island of Lumbago in the sea of Sciatica!
Mr Ball: Brilliant! What’s been the funniest moment so far in rehearsals?
Mrs Reedman: The show is hilarious with a lot of the jokes as you might imagine with beans involved!
Mr Attree: Some of the jokes in the script are just slightly above the children’s heads so we are constantly having to help them understand why the adults watching rehearsals are splitting their sides with laughter.
Mrs Reedman: On that point we have had to rehearse the need for the children to stop briefly after delivering a joke punch line so there is room for the audience to clap and laugh.
Miss Taylor: A couple of the parts in the production are basically clown roles and the children are performing them brilliantly.
Mr Ball: I am also pleased to say I have with me Aksel, Millie and Sienna who play the three main characters in the show. Can you tell me who you are playing and what you like about playing that person?
Aksel: I’m playing Captain Redbeard, the captain of the pirates. I like being him because he bosses all of the pirates around!
Millie: I’m playing Chief Wonga, the Chief of the Wonga tribe. I like the role because being in charge of the islanders they all have to bow down to me! I also like it because we live on the Island of Lumbago.
Sienna: I’m playing Admiral Horatio Hornhonker. I like playing him because he is very funny and silly.
Mr Ball: There are lots of songs in the show. Which song is your favourite?
Aksel: My favourite is our pirate song Piratical Style.
Sienna: My favourite song is Pot of Gold because it’s the first song in the show and everyone sings it.
Millie: That’s my favourite song too.
Mr Ball: Final question, what are you hoping parents are going to enjoy most about the show?
Sienna: They are going to laugh a lot because it is very, very funny.
Pirates of the Curry Bean is being performed over two consecutive nights from Tuesday 17 March. This is a ticket only event. Tickets are free and available from Miss Hitchins – lhitchins@olab.org.uk.