Throughout this past week, Hampton School and Lady Eleanor Holles School have been performing a joint production of Arthur Laurents' musical West Side Story. Auditions began last March, and the cast have been rehearsing ever since. The show was performed at Hampton’s Hammond Theatre.
The musical, loosely based on William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, is set in mid-1950s New York, and tells the story of two rival street gangs, the American Jets and the Puerto-Rican Sharks. It also tells of a love story between Tony, best friend of the Jets’ leader, Riff, and Maria, sister of the Sharks’ leader, Bernardo.
The play, despite it being almost 60 years since the first broadway production, seems particularly relevant in today’s society. In a dramatic “rumble” between the Jets and the Sharks, (spoiler alert) Riff and Bernardo are both killed by knives in dramatic fashion. This is echoed in the fact that, according to the Office of National Statistics, there were almost 30,000 incidents of knife crime in the past year. Furthermore, according to the Metropolitan Police, knife crime in London is up 18%. Perhaps through musicals and plays similar to West Side Story, education about knife crime, and its dangers, can be made more accessible, and clear, to more people.
The musical was directed by Mrs Joanne Davis, with the assistant director being last year’s Hampton School Captain Tom Nunan. The performance was accompanied by a live orchestra, directed by Mr Ian Donald and assisted by Alfie Evans-Hutchinson, who played a selection of Leonard Bernstein’s original music. Jerome Robbins’ dance sequences were directed by Mrs Petrina Tate. Tony and Maria were played by Oliver Harvey-Piper and Ana Martin respectively, whilst Ruairi Pyrgos and Joel David played Bernardo and Riff.
Cast member Dylan Little, 14, said that it was “an amazing experience for everyone”, and this feeling was certainly reflected in the high quality performance, in which all involved seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves. With luck, this standard of performing arts can continue between the schools for many years to come.
