youth theatre

 'Gold'
Thursday 25th April 2002
The Lode Centre, Soham Village College - 7.30pm
Thursday 2nd May 2002
Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge - 6.00pm

 World premiere for Viva’s Gold

Hardworking youngsters at Viva Youth Theatre in Soham have had just three weeks to put together and stage the world premiere of a new musical called 'Gold'. The acclaimed young drama group was chosen to take part in the National Theatre’s International Connections Scheme and had to choose from one of 12 new specially commissioned pieces of work, to perform.
The group chose 'Gold', an original musical based on a group of Norwegian teenagers who attempt to smuggle gold out of their country during the second world war to prevent the Nazis from getting it. Director Dan Schumann said: “It’s an extremely hard-hitting high drama piece. It’s very 'Les Miserables' in its style and is a very poignant and dramatic piece of theatre. “We chose it because it was the only musical amongst the 12 scripts and we tend to specialise in musicals. “It’s been a real challenge for our members because we have had only three weeks to put it all together and learn the songs, which has not been easy as it has a complex and intricate score. It has been very challenging. but is an interesting piece to do and it has never been performed before anywhere in the UK.” The show takes to the stage at the Lode Centre, Soham Village College, for one night only, tonight at 7.30pm, and entry is by donation at the door. Following tonight’s premiere, the young actors will perform Gold for a second time at Cambridge Arts Theatre on 2 May 2002.

 Golden Outlook for Viva

The cast of the Viva Youth Theatre’s latest performance were not only given their first standing ovation from an audience at the Lode Centre but earned high praise from a representative of Cambridge Arts Theatre.
Now they are looking forward to performing the same play at the Arts Theatre in May and possibly even the National Theatre in London later this year. Viva have been accepted as members of a scheme run by the National Theatre which commissions 12 pieces of new drama especially for young people every year from some of the country’s most prolific writers. The Soham group chose a musical called 'Gold' about a group of Norwegian teenagers in World War II who were involved in their country’s resistance force and a plan to smuggle gold out of the country to Britain.
It was written for them by the writers of the Disney film 'The Grinch that Stole Christmas'.
Director Daniel Schunmann said: "It was a very adult piece so we only involved members of Viva who were aged 14 and over. They had only three weeks to rehearse it because we have only just finished our production of 'Me and My Girl'. It was an extremely difficult piece but they did a brilliant job.
“It was the first time they’ve got an audience to their feet and it was also very exciting for them because the representative from the Arts Theatre said of all the performances by groups in the region she'd seen, ours was the most ready. She was also very impressed with the standard of singing and the maturity of the performers. Our musical director, Angela Bocking, did a brilliant job.” Tickets for the Viva Youth performance of Gold at the Arts Theatre on 2 May 2002 are on sale at £5 from 01223 503333. The curtain goes up at 6.00pm.

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