Our House is the story of Joe Casey who, on the night of his sixteenth birthday, takes Sarah, the girl of his dreams, out on their first date. In an effort to impress her with bravado, he breaks into a building site overlooking his home on Casey Street, which is owned by Mister Pressman, a high-end property developer. The police turn up, at which point Joe’s life splits into two: the Good Joe, who stays to help, and Bad Joe, who flees.
The story then continues, following both good Joe and Bad Joe’s lives through alternating scenes and the lyrics of some very well know Madness songs.
Last night we went to the Grand Theatre to see “Our House” performed by a cast from Coppice Performing Arts School, Ashmore Park and we did not come away disappointed.
They were amazing. From the second the young cast took to the stage to the final curtain call the audience we’re enthralled. The musical numbers had us tapping our feet and the characters we believable and incredibly well-played. Sitting high up in the Grand Circle it was easy for us to see the cast exiting the stage and we were impressed by the professionalism of all involved staying in character until the were well out of sight.
A special mention must go to Jay Wiley (Joe Casey) for some very speedy costume changes when switching between Good and Bad Joe, and to Stephen Clifton (Vegas Minister) for a very brave costume choice coming onto stage in front of cast and audience of his students in a white “Elvis†jumpsuit!
Each and every individual on the stage looked like they both belonged and wanted to be there, from the dancers in the chorus to the lead actors/actresses who gave it their all and the teachers who had given up their weekends to support both on stage and off. The dedication of all involved is a credit to the school and to Wednesfield as a whole.
They deserved the rapturous applause they left the stage to and we can only hope that they enjoyed performing for us as much as we enjoyed watching them!
Our House was first performed by the pupils of Coppice Performing Arts School in Spring 2011 and images from those shows can be found on the school website.