“Everyone here is lush and they’ve worked really hard to do it.”
I need to interview more young people as quotes like that cheer me up and make a story so easy to write. The words were from Lacie Gould, a year nine pupil at Cwmbran High School, during a dress rehearsal for their production of Mary Poppins.
The 13-year-old told me: “I just love how included everyone is and how you can have a bit of fun. I would say come and watch it because our cast is so nice. Everyone here is lush and they’ve worked really hard to do it. And it’s just a bit of fun, just come out and watch it.”
I chatted to Leo Morton, a year 11 pupil, who is also the school’s head boy. The 16-year-old said: “It’s always been one of my favourite musicals ever since I was a little kid. And when Mrs Rennocks said to us ‘we’re doing Mary Poppins’ I was over the moon. After speaking to my mum and watching the film over and over again I really liked the character of Bert so that’s who I auditioned for.
“We’ve been rehearsing since last September. It’s been amazing. I’m so glad I’m in this show.
“We’ve got cast from year seven all the way to year 11 and I just think that’s amazing that we’re all being included.”
Cerys Rennocks, a teacher in the school’s performing arts department, said: “It’s going really well. We’ve had our first performance for our feeder primary schools.
“That was really successful and then our first evening performance is tomorrow night going through to Thursday.
“It’s been hectic but buzzing with enthusiasm to get the performance done and show what we can do.”
Around 35 pupils are involved in the cast and working backstage. I asked her what do pupils get out of being involved in a school production?
She said: “Confidence building. They get a chance to perform in a professional production on a lovely stage. Our resources here at Cwmbran are absolutely fantastic to be honest. Not all schools have what we have. It’s a nice opportunity for them to mix across key stages and different friendship groups.
“Some of our main cast are in year seven and it’s the first-ever performance they’ve done and it’s really lovely because they’ve made friends in years eight, nine, ten and 11.”
Tickets for Mary Poppins
🎟️ Mary Poppins runs from Tuesday 11 March to Thursday 13 March. Doors open at 6.30pm and the show starts at 7pm. Tickets £4. Click here for tickets.