Pupils wowed the audience with their stunning and moving performance in Oh! What a Lovely War. Performed over three nights (plus two matinees) pupils shared a different perspective on war, telling the truth from the soldiers’ point of view—using song, satire, and dark humour to reveal just how messy, painful, and human war really is.
Directed by OR Sam Hall, our very own Sweeney Todd, professional Music Director Sam brought his experience from the West End working with children on “School of Rock” to develop the score. The original version in 1963 was about the First World War and styled like an old-fashioned end-of-the-pier seaside show. This version was reimagined to reflect the conflict in Ukraine and poignantly included the voice of one of our Ukrainian pupils Siia who went back to Kyiv last year – a reminder to the cast that war is still close.
Our production was set in a war-damaged theatre – half-destroyed, half-under renovation. Like history itself, it’s a space being patched together, not yet whole. Costumes are incomplete. Performers are unprepared. Nothing quite fits—and that’s entirely intentional.
This design reflects a deeper truth: no one is ever truly ready for war. Time and again, those caught in conflict describe the experience as disorienting, surreal, and fragmented—like being half-dressed, out of place, and expected to carry on. Our theatre under renovation becomes a metaphor for that emotional state: broken, uncertain, but still insisting that the show must go on.
So while we honour the original’s use of clowning, song, and satire, we’ve placed it within a more fragile, fractured world—one that mirrors not just the past, but today’s unsettling present.
Thank you to all the cast, crew and staff for their time, energy, and creativity in bringing Oh! What a Lovely War to life. A heartfelt thank you to Director of Music, Karen Hebden, for instigating such a wonderful West End standard production and to Sam Hall for sharing his experience while also conducting Hadestown in the West End.
Related Posts
To round off Lent Term, and instil a love of running, Prep pupils took part in the Festival of Running at the Alps. Cheered on by parents and friends, pupils made their way around the course, which included both grass and woodland sections. With the support of NE Timing, each pupil wore a timing [...]
Year 5 presented their term-long Challenge Prep to their teachers and parents at the end of term. The challenge was to research a European country and its language and produce an information poster and design a board game to teach players what they had learned. We were so pleased to see such creative, well-researched [...]
Leo B (6R) took part in the Rochester and North Kent Music and Drama Festival during the holidays, performing his three Grade 3 pieces from his recent exam, accompanied by piano. He sang really well winning two cups: the Hillyfields Cup for Classical Song Lieblingsplätzchen - Mendelssohn and the Joyce Best Cup for Sacred [...]
