Jolly Hockey Sticks

KYDZ never cease to amaze me each time I visit them, all their productions are totally “home grown”, written and directed by themselves.

This one was slightly different in the fact that it was based on a true story about Mary Goodly who was the headmistress at Highcliffe Boarding School before and after World War 2 and who sadly passed away last year.

The story centres around a trip to Germany in 1936 when the pupils took part on a Hockey Match.

In the title role of Mary Goodly was Bella Curtis, initially played quite a shy, timid person but when it came to it she certainly pulled on all her strengths to combat evil. One of the songs delivered by Bella was The Life I never Led from Sister Act, which she was able to deliver with style, as she did with all her lines.

One of the things about KYDZ’ shows is they always use modern or relatively modern songs which fit in perfectly with the storyline and this production was no exception.

The headmistress at the time of our story was Miss Hastings, again another great performance from Ruby Richardson, who as always delivered all the goods with a professional style. Ruby sang The Climb and you could hear a pin drop when she did this.

The final member of staff from Highcliffe was Miss Hunter, who it turns out was very pro-German and she ensured everyone knew this. Step up Libby Horne who was able to make this part her own.

As well as the pupils attending the German trip, we also had a flying ace known as Lady Gwen who “flew” into the action with her can do attitude to anything which dared to raise up in front of her, Imogen Paley was superb in this role as a rather demanding person who took no prisoners.

The other adult person was Delilah, initially portrayed as a rather dipsy radio star but in actual fact was a spy who was travelling to Germany to take photos on the camps they had. Matilda Wilson was made for this role, or should I say this role was made for her? Matilda was able to shine in both aspects of her role, initially as the radio star and later as the spy.

Once in Germany our intrepid explorers met up with Wolfgang who was a sergeant in the German army, and it was good to see Michael Corcoran back again to take this part on which he did with ease.

In charge of Wolfgang, we had Commandant Gruber who should have been played by David Knights who had not only written the piece but also directed it too, unfortunately David was taken ill which meant somebody else had to take on this character. Rob Green was the lighting technician but stood up to take on this role in which he excelled, yes he had the script in his hand disguised by a clipboard but he rarely needed it and did an excellent job, well done Rob.

Also in this piece we saw first and fourth formers who also went on the Hockey trip, one of the fourth formers was Goldy, who it turned out her name was actually Goldstein, a Jewish young lady who felt very intimidated whilst in the foreign country, Seraphim Weston gave a brilliant portrayal of this young lady.

Whilst in Germany, and we need to remember, the action takes place in 1936 so just prior to World War 2, the Germans had started to persecute the Jews and indeed anyone who was not classed as part of “the master race”.

A young mother was discovered at one point who was trying to hide her young daughter, Heidi. The pupils decided to hide Heidi from the Germans and take her back to England. The Mother and daughter duo was played by Imogen Paley and Evie Green respectively, both being able to give very believable portrayals.

I mentioned earlier this piece was written by David Knights and it was obvious he had done a great deal of research to make it so believable and understandable, David had also worked very closely with Matthew Stewart who is the child protection officer for KYDZ,  to ensure the language being used, which although was correct for the day would not be right in todays climate. Matthew is normally in charge of the sound but as Rob Green had been called to make his acting debut, he had to step up to concentrate on the lighting, I didn’t notice any unwanted blackouts, so I guess he did a good job.

Again, mentioned earlier every KYDZ production that I have seen has not only told a story, it also delivered a message which we all need to learn and this one was no exception telling us that we all need to live together, plus it was a superb history lesson.

Congratulations to everyone involved, especially David Knights, Lynsey Fothergill and Aiden Knights as co-directors, Seraphim Weston and Matilda Wilson as choreographers plus all the backstage team.

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.