Return to the Forbidden Planet, Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal

“You’ll need a good band for that, then” was my reaction when I heard what this year’s Queen Katherine School production was to be – their first attempt at a rock musical. Well, the band, made up of student talent, under the direction of Robert Shillitoe, certainly played to what seemed like professional standards, and drove the whole production with gusto and accuracy. Neither did the rest of the show disappoint, and ended with the whole audience standing up, clapping along and singing with the cast. The show is a very clever inter-mingling of quotes from many Shakespeare plays, a nostalgia (must be the correct collective noun) of 1950s and 60s pop songs and the plot of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

The result was once again a triumph, with a lot of high-quality, energetic dancing and singing from various choruses. The main parts were played with assurance, and one has to mention Suzie Barber for her singing, in particular, and teacher Kevin Bell, for whom this was the last school musical before he retires this summer. Once again, producer Caroline Barber succeeded in extracting maximum results form a large cast, helped by excellent costumes, set design, choreography and musicianship from the afore mentioned band.

John Nicholls