Previous Shows
View our archive of previous shows as well national and local reviews of the productions
Archive
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- 2016
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- 2020
- All
- 2016
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
Review of 2020
2020 was a strange year for most people – not least Viva! We were extremely lucky that we managed to produce one show before the country went into lockdown in March 2020 – and what a show it was!
Review of 2019
2019 was a very busy year for Viva. Seven shows were scheduled for the year, we launched our weekly performing arts classes for children aged 5-12, our baby group and our holiday workshops too, a 2017 show enjoyed a re-run at the ADC Theatre in Cambridge, and we still found time to visit and perform at the world famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival!
Review of 2018
2018 was a huge year for us with seven full scale productions scheduled and the purchase of Spencer’s Mill! (now known as The Viva Theatre).
Review of 2017
Viva’s 20th Anniversary year, which was marked with a fund-raising ball at The Brook, Soham in March, was packed with local shows, a trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and some huge wins at the Annual NODA Gala Awards! Viva’s Educating Rita (2016) won Best Play AND Best Production and Viva member Joseph Beach was presented with the NODA District 4S Young Performer of the Year Award. This was for his fantastic performance in Viva’s production of Evita (2016) as Magaldi as well as performing with Newmarket Kings Theatre in Dream Nights over the summer.
Review of 2016
2016 was jam packed with a wide-range of shows from epic musicals (Evita, Sweeney Todd) to more intimate dramas (The Lady in the Van, Educating Rita). We also toured the more recent Made In Dagenham – the musical version of the 2010 film which was met with a fantastic response throughout. A great year for the props and scenery departments who had their work cut out creating an underwater theme (Little Mermaid), sourcing an actual van (Lady in the Van) and gruesome homemade pies for audiences to enjoy in the Sweeney Todd interval! Congratulations is also given to Hair & Wigs for the fabulous sixties dos’ in Made in Dagenham!
Full List of Viva Shows
1997 Bugsy Malone | Alan Parker
1998 A Night at the West End | Various
1999 Annie | Thomas Meehan
2000 Wizard of Oz | Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jeremy Sams
2001 Thumbelina | Hans Christian Andersen
2001 Little Shop of Horrors | Howard Ashman, Alan Menken
2002 Me and My Girl | Noel Gay
2002 Gold | Timothy Mason, Mel Marvin (National Theatre Connections Project)
2002 Jabberwocky | Andrew Kay, Malcolm Middleton, Peter Phillips
2003 Return to the Forbidden Planet | Bob Carlton
2003 Myths and Models (Devised by company for The National Trust)
2004 Oliver | Lionel Bart
2004 A Slice of Saturday Night | Heather Brothers
2005 Guys and Dolls | Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling, Abe Burrows
2005 The Sound of Music | Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II
2005 Fame! | Jose Fernandez (Edinburgh Fringe)
2006 Barnum | Mark Bramble
2006 Aladdin | Chad Beguelin, Alan Menken
2006 Back to the ’80’s | Neil Gooding (Edinburgh Fringe)
2007 Thoroughly Modern Millie | Jeanine Tesori, Dick Scanlan, Richard Morris
2007 The Wiz | William F. Brown
2007 Little Shop of Horrors | Howard Ashman, Alan Menken (Edinburgh Fringe)
2007 Blood Brothers | Willy Russell (Edinburgh Fringe)
2007 Habeas Corpus | Alan Bennett
2008 Calamity Jane | Phil Park, Ronald Hanmer, Sammy Fain
2008 Annie | Thomas Meehan
2008 A Slice of Saturday Night | Heather Brothers (Edinburgh Festival)
2008 Blithe Spirit | Noel Coward
2008 Steel Magnolias | Robert Harling
2009 Les Miserables | Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg
2009 Gypsy | Arthur Laurents
2009 The Buddy Holly Story | Alan Janes (Edinburgh Festival)
2009 Hobson’s Choice | Harold Brighouse ★ NODA Regional Award Winner ★
2010 Disney’s Beauty and the Beast | Linda Woolverton, Alan Menken
2010 Godspell | John-Michael Tebelak
2010 Outside Edge | Richard Harris
2010 The Importance of Being Earnest | Oscar Wilde ★ NODA Regional Award Winner ★
2011 West Side Story | Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein
2011 High School Musical | David Simpatico
2011 I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change | Joe DiPietro (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
2011 The Ark (Helen Griffin) 2011 – ★ Haverhill Drama Festival Award Winner for Best Director, Best Actress, Best Set and Best of the Festival ★
2011 Prime Time Murder | Michael Burrell
2012 Smike the Musical | Roger Holman, Simon May
2012 Fame | Jose Fernandez (New York)
2012 Much Ado About Nothing | Shakespeare
2012 Stepping Out | Richard Harris
2013 The Sound of Music | Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II (The Lady Chapel, Ely Cathedral)
2013 Grease the Musical | Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey
2013 Footloose the Musical | Dean Pitchford, Walter Bobbie
2013 Bouncers – The Viva Remix | John Godber ★ Haverhill Drama Festival Winner for Best Director and Adjudicators Award / Third Place at the Cambridge Drama Festival 2013 ★
2013 The Ghost Train | Arnold Ridley
2014 The Phantom of the Opera | Andrew Lloyd Webber, Richard Stilgoe
2014 Les Miserables | Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg
2014 Pride and Prejudice | Simon Reade
2014 Acorn Antiques the Musical | Victoria Wood
2015 Oliver | Lionel Bart (The Shaw Theatre, London)
2015 Half a Sixpence | Beverley Cross (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
2015 The Vagina Monologues | Eve Ensler
2015 Abigail’s Party | Mike Leigh ★ NODA Award for Best Play ★
2015 Avenue Q | Jeff Whitty (Touring: Soham, Ely, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, ADC Theatre, Cambridge)
2015 A Christmas Carol | Shaun Sutton
2016 Evita | Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice
2016 The Little Mermaid Disney JR | Doug Wright, Alan Menken
2016 Educating Rita | Willy Russell
2016 Sweeney Todd | Patrick Quentin, Stephen Sondheim
2016 Made in Dagenham the Musical | Richard Bean
2016 The Lady in the Van | Alan Bennett
2017 Shakers | John Godber, Jane Thornton
2017 Legally Blonde the Musical | Heather Hach
2017 Dad’s Army | Croft and Perry
2017 The Dreaming | Charles Hart, Howard Goodall (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
2017 The Bakewell Bakeoff | The Baking Committee (Edinburgh Festival)
2017 Departure Lounge | Dougal Irvine (Edinburgh Festival)
2017 Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Junior | Linda Woolverton, Alan Menken
2017 God of Carnage | Yasmina Reza
2017 Brassed Off | Paul Allen and Mark Herman
2018 Bazaar and Rummage | Sue Townsend
2018 Hairspray | Mark O’Donnell, Thomas Meehan
2018 The Vicar of Dibley | Richard Curtis
2018 Grease: School Edition | Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey ★ NODA Award for Best Youth Production ★
2018 My Fair Lady | Lerner and Loewe
2018 Goodnight Mister Tom | Michelle Magorian ★ NODA Award for Best Drama ★
2018 Fiddler on the Roof | Joseph Stein
2019 Separate Tables | Terrance Rattigan
2019 Peter Pan JR | Morris “Moose” Charlap and Jule Styne
2019 Chicago: School Edition | Fred Ebb, Bob Fosse, John Kander ★ NODA Award for Best Youth Production ★
2019 Brassed Off | Paul Allen and Mark Herman (ADC Theatre, Cambridge) ★ NODA Award for Best Drama ★
2019 Hi De Hi | Croft and Perry
2019 A Slice of Saturday Night | Heather Brothers (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
2019 Sister Act | Bill Steinkellner, Cherie Steinkellner (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
2019 The 39 Steps | Patrick Barlow, John Buchan
2020 Shrek the Musical | David Lindsay-Abaire
2021 Frankenstein | Philip Grecian (Lockdown Digital Project)