Paradox Productions brings The Academy to the OFS – a delightful, light-hearted musical comedy. Written, produced and directed by Rob Hemmens and Rhys Jones, two 4th year Oxford students, it is a musical parody of musicals, and also pokes fun at the notion of theatre as science, a theory which apparently some people genuinely buy into.
The story is set in the Academy, an acting school which is based on the premise that that acting is a science rather than an art. It follows Amy as she auditions for and enrols in the Academy and falls for Will, one of the senior students there. She endures a series of bizarre classes which include for example, stage direction of actors as a painting and Ukrainian folk dancing. She unfortunately fails most of her classes and realises that acting isn’t really about science, but rather, art and emotion. As a result, she convinces Will to leave the Academy and run away with her to do real acting, which he agrees to. Unfortunately, this evokes the wrath of the headmistress and Will is forced to graduate, with disastrous results. It all comes to blows in an all-singing, all-dancing finale where of course, love conquers all. Unfortunately, someone still dies (watch out for the bang). While the story itself is a bit light, as one would expect from a parody of musicals, it provides the canvas for some cheeky satire and a series of great songs.
The cast is mainly composed of current students with an impressive array of talent between them. Rebecca Tay as Amy, the romantic lead, is extraordinarily professional and belts out some real heart-wrenching ballads to Will (Robin Thompson), her earnest male lead. One of the highlights of the show is a duet, performed by two nameless chorus actors (Rhiannon Drake and Hansel Tan) about being stuck in the chorus (oh the irony…groan). Drake and Tan sing beautifully, as well as the song itself standing out in terms of writing and arrangement. Tan also deserves special mention for his quirky stage presence which occasionally stole the show. Liam Welton, as one of the Academy’s teachers, also flexes his talent with a rather impressive repertoire of accents, used to demonstrate modern adaptations of Shakespeare, which is very funny.
It’s a great, original comedy with some real musical gems and well worth seeing, particularly for students and those involved in amateur drama (and aspiring to go to an acting academy).
The story is set in the Academy, an acting school which is based on the premise that that acting is a science rather than an art. It follows Amy as she auditions for and enrols in the Academy and falls for Will, one of the senior students there. She endures a series of bizarre classes which include for example, stage direction of actors as a painting and Ukrainian folk dancing. She unfortunately fails most of her classes and realises that acting isn’t really about science, but rather, art and emotion. As a result, she convinces Will to leave the Academy and run away with her to do real acting, which he agrees to. Unfortunately, this evokes the wrath of the headmistress and Will is forced to graduate, with disastrous results. It all comes to blows in an all-singing, all-dancing finale where of course, love conquers all. Unfortunately, someone still dies (watch out for the bang). While the story itself is a bit light, as one would expect from a parody of musicals, it provides the canvas for some cheeky satire and a series of great songs.
The cast is mainly composed of current students with an impressive array of talent between them. Rebecca Tay as Amy, the romantic lead, is extraordinarily professional and belts out some real heart-wrenching ballads to Will (Robin Thompson), her earnest male lead. One of the highlights of the show is a duet, performed by two nameless chorus actors (Rhiannon Drake and Hansel Tan) about being stuck in the chorus (oh the irony…groan). Drake and Tan sing beautifully, as well as the song itself standing out in terms of writing and arrangement. Tan also deserves special mention for his quirky stage presence which occasionally stole the show. Liam Welton, as one of the Academy’s teachers, also flexes his talent with a rather impressive repertoire of accents, used to demonstrate modern adaptations of Shakespeare, which is very funny.
It’s a great, original comedy with some real musical gems and well worth seeing, particularly for students and those involved in amateur drama (and aspiring to go to an acting academy).