Wells Junior Cathedral School have produced a hilarious and heartwarming musical about the establishment of London's first youth club in the 1950s in 'Coffee with Guv'. This is an incredibly professional production, crammed with truckloads of laughs and beautifully thoughtful moments.
By and large, the cast were excellent and there were several outstanding performances. Rowan Wilson portrayed the title character with poise and professionalism, but the show was stolen by Callum Deans who played the Rockers' leader Aidey. Deans, who has a great voice and acts with an ease that belies his young age, becomes the focus of every scene that he appears in, such is his stage presence. He should certainly be applauded.
Cameron Tucker, as Larry, and Astrid Rose-Edwards, as Sue, have incredibly powerful voices on them for such young performers. There are also some more minor characters who are absolutely acting their socks off the entire time. Imke De Gier, as church-goer Mrs Divine, is hilarious and consistently in character and Tom McMillan Fox, who plays quiet rocker Ginge, certainly has the most expressive face in the cast. He should really have been given more lines.
Paul Denegri (writer and composer)'s work is pretty good. The motif of the Rockers teaching their friend Smithy, played by Lewis Deans, how to throw a football is both very funny and heartwarming. A minor quibble some might have is that it is suggested by the title and by some minor references made in the show, that this production is a reflection on the coffee bar craze which arose in London in the 1950s. However, the show does not really make it clear why coffee is important. This is in fact a show about bridging the gap between progressive and radical youth and conservative adults, through a youth club, football, music, and dance – but not really through coffee.
It is obvious that a lot of hard work has gone into this production. The costumes are excellent – in addition to mods and rockers, there is a vicar, a butcher, some dustmen, a waitress, a grandmother and some very impressive hats and skirts. Although the tech is a bit dodgy (the audience are almost blinded on more than one occasion), the scene changes are done entirely by the cast with incredible smoothness and professionalism.
Wells Junior Cathedral School have surpassed expectations of school musicals. They are a force to be reckoned with and we will hopefully see them back at the Fringe in future years.
