Performed: March 2012, The Dolphins Hall
Directed by: Steve Scott
Smike is freely adapted from Dicken's Nicholas Nickleby.
The show opens in a modern school where a new English teacher struggles to gain the interest of his class. He overcomes the problem by suggesting that they turn the book they are studying, Nicholas Nickleby, into a musical.
We are transformed back to Victorian times, where the children are now pupils at Dotheboys Hall. It is a miserable place where life is a matter of survival. Any transgression is met with the wrath of the Headmaster, Mr Squeers. His wretched wife feeds the children brimstone and treacle daily to suppress their appetite and make it cheaper to feed them. At the same time, her family dine on the finest food.
The main object of Mr Squeer's cruelty is Smike, an orphan boy. He is condemned to live a life of servitude, until the new teacher, Mr Nicholas Nickleby decides to take matters into his own hands...
Smike was a production by the Youth Group of the society, with three evening performances, from Thursday, March 1st 2012 to Saturday, March 3rd 2012 together with a Saturday matinee. To double the number of children who could perform in the principal roles, a bold decision was taken to run two casts.