Principal Michael Fordham shares the hard work of students and staff going into this year’s school production.
We are coming up to the time of the school production, and by the time you are reading this, the poster will already be out, telling you how to get your ticket!
This year, we are running Bugsy Malone at the school. It is a great musical designed specifically for younger groups to perform, and we know it is popular because at least two other schools in the county are also putting on Bugsy Malone as their production this year.
Thetford Academy has had a good run of productions since the pandemic, and each year we push ourselves to go one step further. In 2022, we staged Grimm’s Tales to help us find our feet again. In 2023, we moved into musical theatre with The Little Mermaid, and in 2024, we took it further with a live band performing for Return to the Forbidden Planet. This year, we are bringing in a scaffold stage with a band pit in the middle, and students will play all the music while their peers perform on stage.
Auditions began in October, and every Monday after school, students have been working with staff to learn lines, rehearse, and get ready for the production. Many hundreds of hours go into preparing a show. It is not just the actors learning their lines or the musicians mastering their pieces—our students also play an active role in stage management, set and costume design, lighting, and makeup. With every production, there is someone behind the scenes making the performance happen.
We do not charge for entry to our productions because we want as many people as possible to see them. We also invite Year 5 children from every Thetford primary school to attend, hoping to inspire them to take part when they join us in Year 7 in a few years time.
I hope to see many of our readers at the production—keep an eye on the school Facebook page, or contact the school to ask for a ticket.
Michael Fordham
