A ROARING SUCCESS!
A Roaring Success!
When my eldest son was younger, The Lion King was his favourite film so this was a story I knew well. However, I’ve never seen the stage show so I was excited to see Warminster School’s production of The Lion King Jr.
As my tickets were for the last night I had heard an awful lot of ‘word of mouth’ praise for the show before I set foot in the Sports Hall…or should that be the savannah? From the moment we took our seats in a packed hall we were transported to the African grasslands. It seemed impossible that this was the Lower School production, the standard was so high. Lily Aldridge’s Rafiki set the scene wonderfully, but every cast member was superb. We cried at Mufasa’s death, portrayed brilliantly by Alex Hunter. We were horrified at the cruelty of Scar – I’m not sure I can ever look at Tilly Street again! The three hyenas were played with a cruel relish by Anna Payne, Alice Grieg and Dillon Throckmorton. Both Simbas (Alex Robinson and Max Curnock) and both Nalas (Anna Galpin and Evie Kennett) were tremendous and, as for Timon and Pumbaa (Ben Wagstaff and Joe McQuilton), they had me laughing my socks off.
I must mention the costumes as they were equally part of the show. We had stilt-walking giraffes, prowling cheetahs as well as the wonderful head-dresses worn by the lionesses. Even the grass of the savannah was brought to life through swirling, swaying skirts.
Every single member of the cast deserves the highest praise for a simply wonderful show. This was the fourth junior production I have seen and it was by far the best. Another member of the English department who has been here much longer than I, told me it was the best junior production she could remember.
Congratulations to Mrs Harris, Miss Hunter, Mrs Robinson and all the staff who put in a huge amount of time and effort to bring this fantastic production to life. Just one question: How on earth do you follow that?
Jeremy Robertson, English Teacher
For all photographs, captured by Jon Edkins, please visit our Flickr page