Was the Wicked Witch of the West really wicked or the victim of a corrupt regime? The premise of ‘WICKED’, the multi-award winning musical, is that you have not been told the whole story about the land of Oz.
It encourages you to look at things very differently by exploring the themes of friendship, trust and tolerance, the use of propaganda and the manipulation of public opinion. Was the Wicked Witch of the West really wicked? Was Glinda the Good really so good? Why was the Lion so cowardly? How did the Tin Man lose his heart and the Scarecrow his brain? And why did the Wicked Witch of the West want the jewelled shoes so much?
These were just some the questions our Year 8 students and staff were posed as they enjoyed a theatre excursion to the Apollo Theatre in London recently as part of a Pastoral reward trip. The musical is often described as a ‘prequel’ to the Wizard of Oz but in fact the story takes place before, simultaneously and after the familiar Oz tale.
The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience that was funded by the Academy and Mousetrap theatre project who, over the past six years have continued to inspire our young people with magnificent theatre opportunities such as this.
The students fully appreciated the magnitude of the production; the music, the staging, the songs and the theatrical magic all of which makes it one of the best musicals in the World. Many thanks to Mrs Radford and Miss Nelson for coordinating the event.
