JAPS Year 6 production of The Rocky Monster Show

Flash! Crash! Let’s do the Flash Crash!

In spectacular and hilarious, music-theatre style, the company of Gothic  ghouls led us, together with intrepid scientists Dan (Rosa Collier) and Rebecca (Georgia Bowen), into darkly, spooky Fenton Castle, to find the charismatic, masked Professor Rocky (Georgia Gibson) working secretively in his laboratory. 7 years on and the Prof’s study of computer-generated life is coming to fruition; (Evolution- is it just a chemical solution?) Helped with a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder, monsters Mungo (Rosa Juritz) and Elsa (Sophie Edmunds) emerged stiffly from their coffins, and promptly fell in love.

In fact, for a castle ridden with monsters and eccentric characters, there was quite a lot of sweetness in the air; I particularly enjoyed the hopeless gaze of lovelorn Igor (Saffie Patel) for the gorgeous Gloria (Lucy Edwards). But the villagers were right to sniff trouble along with Ada (Susannah Wells): ‘There’s something nasty in the woodshed…’ Her doom-laden mantra was one of several funny, repeated gags that had the audience laughing out loud. References to ‘An Inspector Calls’, and housekeeper Mrs Danvers’ exaggerated response every time the name ‘Rebecca’ was said had resonance with the older members of the audience, if not the young cast! I looked forward to her gasps, her dazed expressions and her hushed, Du Maurier ramblings from until someone shut her up.

Other highlights for me included the gullible, earnest constabulary, the hair, make-up and costumes of the tap-dancing ghouls, and their narration with personal, scary, up-lighting, and the excellent, lip-curling Elvis (Molly Stebbings) with his supreme Superbs backing group, sparkling with sequins. The confident, individual characterisation was outstanding and there were lovely singing performances. Congratulations to Year 6, Directors Lynne Clark and Diana Marsh, Musical Director Vincent Spencer and to all the rock’n’rollers who worked on the beautifully designed, witty show. It was great entertainment.

Alison Venn