Months of planning, rehearsals and prop design have finally culminated in the performance of ‘Mary Poppins Jr.’ at Wigan high school St Edmund Arrowsmith’s.

 

Amidst the stress of rehearsing lines to perfection, coupling these with expressive and explosive movements and gestures, and the physical labor of manually setting the stage with props that relate to the setting and bring the magic of ‘Mary Poppins’ to life, just how did the team behind it produce the final, refined piece?

 

Work began in April of 2024, with auditions for the speaking roles and principal characters.

 

One of the largest challenges of the production was finding the perfect actor for a role, and many people auditioned for one character, only to be assigned to another, undoubtedly emphasizing the trickiness of the final decision.

 

Speaking to several members of the cast, including Alex Markiewicz, who played Mr. Von Hussler, a role that was originally shared but became a single role when the second actor dropped out, it is made clear that these were a key period in the production process.

 

“The Auditions were terrifying. I don’t think Mr. Von had competition at all, but I’m happy with my role because it’s small and I was comfy with it.”

 

As made evident by this, the auditions were taken to be quite high stake by the actors involved.

 

Soon after auditions concluded, the next hurdle to clear for the various departments involved was stage design.

 

Props had to be in the theme of a traditional Edwardian household, so presented a unique challenge to the team, as the head of the drama department, Mrs. Melling, recounts:

 

“With being a school, we have lots of considerations when making design choices: cost, size, functionality. We firstly look at what we already have available from previous productions (it's amazing what you can collate over 20 years and alter to fit various productions). Then, we make a design plan for making, building, painting of set and props using online examples and the expertise of our technology and art department. We also have a wonderful staff who with a persuasive email are more than keen to donate and source props for us. From here, our design starts to come together, it's amazing what you can do with some fake blossom, MDF and a glue gun!”

 

This joint effort of several departments and members of staff culminated in a vivid backdrop of the rooftops of London, and a cherry tree scattering its blossom into the front garden of its namesake.

 

The largest challenge of this process, however, was to truly have Mary embody her role and take to the skies.

 

To bring this to life, a purpose-built seesaw was created to create the illusion of her floating on and off stage, by having the stage crew lift or lower it on the other side.  

 

All in all, the production proved a spectacular success. Congratulations to all involved!