On Wednesday evening, I had the immense pleasure of attending Shrek the Musical, which featured three talented members of Year 4, Minnie, Stella and Sophia. This very proud teacher could not miss the opportunity! The performance took place in an outdoor theatre setting and, despite the very warm weather, the cast and audience alike persevered and enjoyed a truly memorable evening. Miss Johnson is also looking forward to it on Saturday, including her son who will be treated to enjoy Shrek’s adventures!
The production brought together a huge number of children, and it was deeply inspiring to see their enthusiasm, confidence and dedication on stage. The cast performed a range of beautiful songs and energetic dance numbers, creating a lively and entertaining show from beginning to end. It was also a delight to revisit the story of Shrek so many years after first watching the film, and to see it brought to life in such a creative way!
One particularly memorable moment came when the actor playing Donkey (a former Francis Holland Junior School pupil whom I had the pleasure of teaching three years ago) handled a costume adjustment during the performance with great professionalism, without missing a beat. As you can imagine, donkey fur and this heatwave do not really get along!
Most importantly, the evening was a wonderful reminder of the incredible opportunities our pupils embrace beyond the classroom. After long and demanding school days, it is truly inspiring to see the commitment, resilience and passion that so many of our girls bring to their extracurricular activities. We are incredibly proud of all those involved in the production and congratulate them on a fantastic achievement!!
“In this amazing experience, we play knight roles in various scenes of the musical with our friend Sophia. On Wednesday night, which was the first show, all of us were so busy and excited before the start of the show! The adult actors kept us calm and it was great to see them performing on stage and learn from them. We would like to give a special shout out to Ruby, who played Donkey and is a Francis Holland girl. Our funniest memory from this opening evening was when everyone sang together I’m a Believer and we were all dancing on the stage!” Stella & Minnie W
“Alongside Stella and Minnie, I am part of the Knights’ Ensemble in Shrek the Musical. It has been so fun and really hard work to be part of this project, but I have loved it! It was very hot on Wednesday and we were there by 5pm even though the show started at 7pm! I learnt valuable improvisation lessons that day. For example, when Donkey started to struggle with her costume due to the high temperatures, the whole team helped her, took the costume off and painted her arms and legs in brown and grey colours. It was a huge lesson that the show must go on!! I will treasure this experience forever!” Sophia A
Mr Cilveti, Year 4 Class Teacher
