CW0544_MTS_Taylorian_2024_Single Pages

DRAMA 79

M any years ago, when I was a pupil, my school staged Our Day Out , though in that production my real teachers played the teachers. They were a lot better at acting than teaching, but happily in the Merchant Taylors’ Drama Department’s production the students take all the roles, except for a zookeeper, an appalling cameo best forgotten. As with my own schooldays, Willy Russell’s play is of blue remembered hills; in this case, the Welsh landscape that provides the ‘day out’ for the remedial ‘Progress Class’ of an impoverished Liverpool school. Savio Gimmi’s inspired design shuttles us from the gritty inner city to the open spaces of Conwy, via various locations including a zoo, while the teachers strive to control their troubled charges and stop them stealing the animals. The action centres on the conflict between the maternal Mrs Kay, a delightful turn by Richard King, who understands that Our Day Out

this trip is a brief respite from the grim reality of these children’s lives, and strict disciplinarian Mr Briggs, played authoritatively by Milan Agrawal, who is sent by the Head Master – a wily Rufus Weetch (later seen as Kid 2) – to keep order. Prem Pandya thoroughly convinces as a jaded teacher battling the odds, while Devin Senevritatne enjoys himself as the laconic Driver, more used to ferrying about children from the “better schools”. Determined to cause trouble, veteran schoolboys Reilly, the always brilliant Harry Prashad, and Digga, a charismatic Karim Obaydi, manage to blag their way onto the coach. Scene-stealing Isar Saluja as Linda, and a mischievous Karim Al-Hilfi as Karen, are also determined to cause trouble for the object of their affection, the long suffering Colin – a superb Reese Reuben. The ensemble cast are terrific, some of whom are making their debut in this