SUMMER SEEMS TO HAVE ARRIVED (at the time of writing!) after all the grey skies and rain of the early part of the year.
I can hardly believe that, by the time you read this, school holidays will be well under way and, rain or shine, that means it’s time for the Summer School Week at the Boxmoor Playhouse.
This is the week when a group of young people come together for a week of hard rehearsing and then present a full-blown public performance, complete with scenery, lighting and costumes.
It’s the fourth year that Hemel Hempstead Theatre Company has done this under director Zoe Mackie, with enthusiastic backing from all the different backstage forces which put so much work into every show the company does.
For Centenary Year 2025 the show is Frozen, which was such a huge success as a Disney film. Thirty-one youngsters from seven to 16 will be working on the script from August 11th to 15th, with a performance on Saturday on the 16th at 2.30pm.
If your child would like to take part next year, come and see this year’s performance and then look out for a posting on social media (Facebook) in December to January or go to the HHTC website round about that time to find out how to apply for a place.
“I love Disney,” says Zoe. “The theatre version left London in September last year and I don’t know anyone who is doing it locally.” At present, Frozen is only available for children to perform. “We were going on popularity,” added Zoe, who is passionate about drama and for several years before Covid ran Make and Move Dance Academy for children from low income families. Since then she has worked as an early years’ practitioner while studying for her degree – Educational Studies in Primary Years.
“I have always loved performing arts and I really enjoy doing this,” she says. Obviously – since she already has the Wizard of Oz, Annie and Matilda under her belt!
And, as if that isn’t enough, Zoe is also the Services and Bar manager for HHTC, so, if you’re a regular member of the audience, you have almost certainly seen her hard at work during the interval!
