Boarders will rock you!

"Anywhere the wind blows..."

With those iconic lines and a dipping of the stage lights, the cast of 'Ashford will Rock You' closed a superb, rock strewn, uproarious opening night's performance of this adaptation of Queen's epic musical. Glow sticks waved, feet stamped, hands clapped until they were sore and, as one, the audience rose to its feet to acclaim another superb night's entertainment put on by students of Ashford School.

The school drama production is always one of the highlights of the Ashford year and there has been a buzz about the place since it was announced that it would be this piece being put on. For some, this wouldn't be the first time.

"It's been on my bucket list to do this musical again." ASIC's Maria told us one afternoon. "This is a dream come true."

As with all dreams though, it came with a lot of hard work. For months and months staff in the Drama and Music departments and students from across the Ashford Community had met and rehearsed songs, dance moves and lines until late in the evening and this was the culmination of all that work.

The aforementioned buzz reached fever pitch when, early in the term the cast received a signed photograph and note of encouragement from the living legend that is Queen lead guitarist Brian May. "Are you ready to rock?" it read. They certainly were!

For those not familiar with the story, the play is set in a fictional future Earth known as Planet More, ruled over by the despotic Globalsoft corporation that - led by it's leader, the scarlet-haired Killer Queen - has removed any trace of individuality from society. Music is sanitised, pumped through the internet, all dance moves are the same, musical instruments banned. Rebelling against this are a group, known as the Bohemians, a rag tag bunch, who cling to an ancient prophecy that 'a dreamer' would some day bring back the spirit of rock.


Killer Queen and the Ga-gas

Rockers: Galileo, Scaramouche and Pop

That dreamer comes in the shape of one Galileo Figaro, who hears snippets of songs in his head without knowing what they mean. Aided by the Bohemians and his 'don't call me' Chick' Scaramouche, they battle to thwart Killer Queen and her maniacal lieutenant - Commander Kashogi - and bring the prophecy to pass.



The Bohemians

Killers: Queen and Kashoggi

The play is littered with razor-sharp one-liners and in-jokes about the banality of reality TV - "We've only got this bit of the video, the rest is an episode of Britain's got Talent." - punctuated by the timeless rock anthems of Queen, including: 'Seven Seas of Rye', 'This crazy little thing called love' and of course 'We will rock you'. These were accompanied brilliantly by Mr Hall and his invitation rock band.

What many would have noticed on the night was that, among standout performances by the main cast: Jess, Jamie, Dexter and others, the majority of the chorus line was made up of members of Ashford School's boarding community. Daria, Tom, Jane, Maria, Kristina, Renata, Caroline, Katya and the irrepressible Timur, who raised smiles aplenty by just being himself in his dungarees and bright yellow socks. Yet another example of what we talked about last time, the whole community coming to together to produce some magic.



 



Behind the scenes the cast were aided by a proficient team of 'techies': lighting, stage hands and sound staff, as well as costume manager, Sister Jo, without whom none of it would have been possible. Others - including Ochuwa, Mo and Tini - helped out front of house, helping people find seats and keeping them refreshed in the interval. A big hand to them, the Drama department of Mrs Dinsdale, Mrs Dengate and Mrs Allum, the Music department: Mr Hall, Mrs Powell and Mrs Brown and above all, to the performers themselves.

To badly misquote another Queen classic: "They are the champions, my friends." Break a leg for the rest of the run and have a great Easter break afterwards, you've all deserved it!

BREAKING DRAMA NEWS: the ASIC Year 11s have been given one of less than 50 places to perform a small part of A Midsummer Night's Dream, in Stratford, as part of the Dream Team 2016 festival to celebrate 400 years since the Bards death in July. Watch this space for updates!