Sydenham High’s latest show has pulled off a winning combination of clever characterisation, warm wit and quick fire humour in an energetic production of the award winning play Daisy Pulls It Off.
Set in a top girls’ boarding school, the play is an affectionate pastiche of the classic 1920s schoolgirls’ adventure story, where heroines were plucky to the last and won through against the odds.
Central character Daisy Meredith, superbly played by 13-year old Edith Alderton, is the first scholarship girl from elementary school to be allowed to enter the hallowed halls of Grangewood School for Young Ladies.
Resilient and optimistic, Daisy finds herself battling against snobbish rivals Sybil (Lexie Webb, 14) and Monica (Jamilah Balogun, 14) who try every devious tick in the book to get her expelled. At the same time Daisy and her new best friend Trixie Martin – a madcap character wonderfully brought to life by 12-year old Lilla Ben – get caught up in a desperate race to save the school from closure by finding the missing family treasure before the enigmatic music teacher Mr Scoblowski, played with great panache by Tara Snowley (14), can get his hands on it.
The entire cast of 37 girls from Years 7-9 delivered strong characterisations over the three nights of the show including: Lauren-Marce Lawrence as an entirely highly believable Headmistress of Grangewood; Sally Prifti as firm but fair English teacher Miss Granville; Alice Nicholson as an excellent ‘jolly hockey sticks’ Head Girl and Ellen Wyllie as her enthusiastic second in command.
There were also great individual performances from Sophie Michael as Daisy’s opera singer mother; Zoe Whorms as her long-lost naval father; Laure Denaro as a highly-strung French mistress; Isobel Brooker, Phoebe Blake and Ester Schomberg as Daisy’s lively classmates. The use of narrators – ably taken on by Laila Kyambadde, Saffron McLeod-Nwobu, Lauren Asser and Alannah Bresnihan – cleverly linked scenes together and kept the action moving along.
The team behind the scenes also contributed to the play’s success; the excellent student technical theatre crew operated lights and sound and delivered some slick stage management.
“I am so proud of this talented cast and crew,” said Head of Drama Laura Yandell, who directed the play assisted by drama students Biba Coulter-Young and Eloise Fleet. “They have not only embraced their individual characters with the professionalism of much older students but worked superbly together as a confident ensemble. Keeping the energy levels up through out the play was also a tremendous achievement and I look forward to seeing them develop their dramatic skills in years to come.”
Trixie Martin’s favourite saying seems a fitting verdict on the show: Jubilate!
