Our House

Our House is a great musical with some excellent music from the group Madness and when Take 2 Theatre School presented it, they sure did it proud right from the word go.

Of course to ensure you have a hit with this you need to have a good leading man to play the role of Joe Casey, here Take 2 had not a good one but a great one who can sing, dance and act his way through the entire show, Casey Heeley was exceptional in this part, it could have been written for him. Some people say this is a little hard to follow as it tells of Joe’s life and his decision whether to take the good road or the bad one.

In order for it to work there has to be some very slick, quick changes by Joe, again Casey was excellent in doing this together with a team of dressers back stage, I am sure many of the audience members thought he was one of a pair of twins playing the same part.

Joe Casey, like all school kids has a pair of mates, Lewis and Emmo played by Brandon Ward and Robin Massey respectively and they were superb and able to get every ounce of humour from the script. It was particularly funny when they were with Joe Casey’s girlfriend Sarah played with conviction by Rebecca Ward who was able to bring this part to life, she showed the emotion in the songs and dialogue which others twice her age would not be capable of.

Sarah also has two friends, Billie and Angie played by Jodie Sidebottom and Jessica Sanderson and again they proved to be a great pairing encouraging all the laughs in the right places from the entire audience.

In this piece Joe Casey’s dad is dead but manages to look after him throughout the show, step in Jake Lomas who was able to give a fine mature performance, not an easy thing from someone so young, this was also the case of Rosie Rayner who played Kath, Joe’s mother, together they were able to show their fine acting and singing skills.

When Joe is at school, he meets another friend, Reecey, who is a real Jack-the-Lad who only sees how to make a fast buck no matter what lengths he has to go to. Whenever it looks like Joe is going down the wrong path you can guarantee Reecey will be around to lead him astray. Daniel Cocksedge was great in this part he brought out the right amount of venom when needed and was also able to deliver the lines with conviction.

There are many smaller parts in this piece and all were played with great professionalism, however there are far too many to list here but some notable ones namely Sebastian Jones, who amongst others played a Chemist, Policeman, Car Salesman and a Priest, all of which were superb. Another actor worth a mention was Ben Bradley who did an excellent job of playing Callum, Sarah’s boyfriend, Callum was able to deliver a great Scottish accent amongst others while depicting a Barrister, Roy, Policeman, Market Seller and London Alarm Boss, Ben is one to watch for the future.

The full production was in the capable hands of Lucie Cooper as Director who together with Iain Price as MD and Charlotte McCamley as Choreographer delivered a first-class show.

Massive congratulations to everyone involved.

 

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