Return to the Forbidden Planet
December 2004

The Show

Return to the Forbidden Planet was written by Bob Carlton for the Bubble Theatre Company & premiered in London over 18 years ago. It is a fun, high energy rock ‘n’ roll musical & contains music from the 50s & 60s – including the hits Gloria, Shake, Rattle & Roll, Monster Mash, Great Balls of Fire, Go Now, Teenager in Love, She’s Not There, Young Girl and more.

The show was a fantastic success and received a glowing review published in the local Bromyard publication 'Off the Record' (below).

The Cast & Crew:

Captain Tempest (brave & fearless)….Angharad Smith
Cookie (moody & romantic)….Ben Marshall
Prospero (brilliant & somewhat deranged)…..Joe Rolt
Science Officer (mysterious & damn clever)….Steph Cresswell
Miranda (sweet & innocent(?))….Ellie Scott
Ariel (smart & strange)….Emma Gibbons
Bosun Arras (jolly good chap)….Matthew Oliver
Navigation Officer (someone has to fly the ship)….Helen Albert
Freda Motion, Ship’s Counsellor…Scarlett O’Donnell
Dee Tergent, Ship’s Cleaner….Abby Regan
Cutie Cull, Ship’s Beautician….Jodie Mahner
Wanda Brar, Ship’s Stylist….Alice Massey
Heidi High, Entertainment Officer….Emily Bolton
Ann T Dote, Ship’s Medic….Emily Palmer
Hugo Sthair, Security Officer….Liam Stobart
Axi Dent, Health & Safety Officer….Alex Matthews
Videos
Newscasters Beg Act I….Scarlett O’Donnell & Abby Regan
Prospero’s Flashback….Joe Rolt, Steph Cresswell & Ellie Scott
Newscasters End Act I….Liam Stobart & Alex Matthews
Newscasters Beg Act II…Jodie Mahner, Alice Massey & Emily Palmer
Newscasters End Act II…Alice Massey, Emily Palmer & Emily Bolton
Becky Strickland & Aimee Carter were also involved in the production of the videos
’She’s Not There’ dance video…Whole Company
Music
Music arranged, performed* and engineered by Jim Rolt
*Live Drums on ‘Wipeout’ by Ben Marshall
* Live Saxophone on ‘Wipeout’ by Matthew Oliver
And BIG thanks to…
Calli Sparrow for the excellent backing vocals on ‘Good Vibrations’
Jake Beasley for the *guitar solo on ‘She’s Not There’
Corin Harper for the *drum track on ‘Great Balls of Fire’

Sound ... Jim Rolt
Lighting ... Hugh Farey
Stage Manager ... Graham Shortland
Stage Crew...Eddie Coleman, Rob Taylor, Sid Durden, Archie Macleod, Walter Arbuthnott, Frances Page, Georgia De Rohan

Directed by Barbara Hockley
Musical Direction by Jim Rolt
Costume & Set Design by Barbara Hockley
Music arranged, performed & engineered by Jim Rolt at Chelston Studios
Costumes by Jenny Shortland, Joyce Marshall & Barbara Hockley
Ray Guns by Hetty Scott

Photographs & AV show by Peter Frampton
Poster by Thomas Goddard (see more at www.faceuptotheape.co.uk)
Poster Sponsorship from Sunset Drinks (Leominster)
Jive instruction by Greg Harwood
Choreography in ‘Go Now’ by Greg Harwood
Jive support by Louise Skelton & Barbara Ratcliffe

The Review

The Conquest Youth Theatre achieved new heights last week with a stunning production of Return To the Forbidden Planet, a sixties rock musical by Bob Carlton, which quite literally glittered with talent and astonishing attention to detail over every square inch of the stage. The enthusiastic cast took us on an improbable journey by spacecraft to the planet of the mysterious Dr Prospero and his daughter Miranda, via a fantastic story of misused potions, misplaced love and mislaid crew which used dialogue largely culled from Shakespeare to link together some of our greatest sixties rock hits.
After some quick pre-flight instruction for the audience on how to survive a polarity reversal, the curtains opened to reveal one of the most detailed sets I have even seen. Dozens of panels of textured silver, studded with pipes, wires, dials, keyboards, monitors, flashing lights and various other shiny gizmos flooded the view, while earnest crew members pored over their navigational tasks with admirable credibility. In one corner a big display brought us TV commentary from outside the ship, and strategically placed microphones ensured that none of us were likely to drop off during this show! Within moments Captain Tempest arrived on the bridge, and we were off.
All shows of this nature are team efforts, but some members of the cast are, inevitably, more equal than others, and I have no hesitation in awarding the audience award to Angharad Smith, as Captain Tempest. She was brave and fearless - as the programme notes told us - but above all she was completly confident in her role, rising effortlessly above technical hiccoughs with relaxed good humour, putting the audience, and cast, at ease. Good singer too! Around her were a plethora of diverse talents. Ben Marshall, as the love-lorn Cookie, was a superb drummer, a singer, and, I suppose, a good cook too! Joe Rolt (Dr Prospero)was a tall, serious and suitably conscious-stricken scientist, Ellie Scott (Miranda) looked and sounded just lovely, and Emma Gibbons (the Robot Ariel) slid in and out and around the stage on roller skates. The Science Officer (Steph Cresswell) saved the day and the Bosun (Matthew Oliver) played the saxaphone.
Although it would tax the patience of the editor to list the entire cast, all the minor roles deserve a mention in dispatches for the way they continued to "work the ship" in the background of the story, gathering around the mikes when necessary to become backing for the main singers, ever industrious, ever acting, but never distracting, adding excellent credibility to the mise-en-scene.
My lasting impression, however, will continue to be the love and care that that had obviously gone in to every detail of this production. The beautiful handsewn original costumes (Jenny Shortland, Barbara Hockley & Joyce Marshall), the TV commentary DVDs (Jim Rolt), the Audio-Visual presentation in the foyer during the interval (Peter Frampton), the jive choreography (Greg Harwood), even the delightful ray-guns (Hetty Scott) showed that hours of work had been spent and no effort spared to make this show the best it could possibly be, and it is an immense credit to Director/Designer and Youth Theatre Leader Barbara Hockley, and her musically versatile and technologically superb partner Jim Rolt that they managed to draw so much out of so many.
If you saw it, you'll know what I mean. If you missed it - don't you wish you hadn't? Well don't despair - they'll be back with a new show before too long!

This review appeared in 'Off The Record' January 2005

Pictures of the show in rehearsal

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