The Little Mermaid

It was my pleasure to welcome Farlingaye High School as a new member of NODA and we pulled out all the stops to ensure that I could visit them within two days of their registration and I’m so glad I didn’t miss this stunning production. 

It had been a rather difficult time for them when RAAC was discovered in the building and all the problems that that imposed.  However Farlingaye value their Arts and this Upper School show encompassed a wide range of activities from the acting, singing, dancing, music from their student band and also in-depth work about plastic pollution in our Oceans. Indeed they have been shortlisted for Suffolk’s Greenest School.  With that in mind their creative vision for the whole production was on recycling materials and much of the set and some of the costumes had been constructed in this way.

This was the full version of Disney’s Little Mermaid and the show opened with some of the ensemble creating effective waves with lengths of fabric on hand-held fans. We meet Ariel, the Mermaid, Bo Hutchinson captured her role with warmth and compassion, and a beautiful singing voice. Her companions were Flounder (Zakhary Wilson), Sebastion, the crab (Samuel Earthroll) and Scuttle, the Seagull (Sam Garratt).  All 3 characters were full of energy and so captivating with their individual personalities shining through. I was told afterwards that Samuel had recently been in hospital, but he was a real trooper determined to get through the show and maintained throughout his Caribbean accent as instructed by the script. The love interest in this story is Prince Eric played by Kai Hoang; this adventurous young man gives an impressive performance and is captivated by Ariel’s singing.

 Gabe Sawrey-Cookson is King Triton, Ariel’s father and he gives a strong and confident performance. Her six other sisters are played by Charlotte, Nell, Flo, Millie, Molly and Beth.  These girls all have such different personalities always vying to outdo the others and succeed in portraying this with massive measures of attitude. We also meet Ursula (Thando Sibanda), the evil Sea Witch, who gives a commanding performance with a strong and mature voice. She looks fabulous in her especially constructed octopus costume made by Milly Brooke out of bin bags. Ursula is helped by her two lackeys, Flotsam (Ella Hetherington Brown) and Jetsam (Emma Quinton).  It is clear these two thoroughly enjoyed portraying these cunning, scheming individuals.  Most of these lead roles all had solos and they gave some quality performances.

This cast of well over sixty students included supporting actors, a vast ensemble with dancers, sea creatures and gulls. They were all amazing with a plethora of excellent songs and some innovative dance routines including a delightful Seagull kick-line. The eighteen piece orchestra were very accomplished in their playing with their numerous different instruments under the direction of Gemma Martino.  This was certainly a student led production with many  involved in the backstage and technical roles. There were good lighting and sound effects and the numerous props and trucks were decorated imaginatively adding wonderfully to the atmosphere.  All the set was efficiently moved by the cast to ensure a good pace throughout. Some of the cast even had bubble machines and the bubbles floated around the audience in one of the underwater scenes, an effective touch.  Costuming such a large cast was an enormous task with some ingenious designs which worked well.

All credit to Director Pippa on her vision and concept and to all the cast and crew for the incredible amount of work that had gone into the making of this enchanting production.  Thank you for inviting us and we will look forward to seeing you again for your next production. 

Catherine Dixey. NODA East Representative District E12

NODA owns the intellectual Property Rights to the content of all show reports written by NODA Councillors, Reps and Assistant Rep

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.