As NSTA Representative, I had the great pleasure of attending the Sevenoaks School production of ‘Guys and Dolls’ on the evening of Saturday 11th October 2025. Sevenoaks School has a fine tradition in the Arts, with its alumni including actors Clive Dunn, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Geoffrey Streatfeild. The passion, skill, and dedication brought to this new production confirms that there are plenty more Sennockians who can continue this fine tradition long into the future. 

‘Guys and Dolls’ was a wonderful choice for the evening. The characters of Damon Runyon are brought magically to life in this most classic of musicals, centring on king of gamblers Sky Masterson’s burgeoning relationship with Sister Sarah, the Salvation Army Mission Doll. Alongside this, we watch the shenanigans of the entrepreneurial Nathan Detroit as he hunts down both venues to host his crap game and ways to avoid marriage with his fiancée of 14 years, HotBox super-singer Miss Adelaide. The show features some of the most wonderful songs in musical theatre, such as ‘I’ve Never Been in Love Before’, ‘Luck Be A Lady’, and ‘Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat’. It’s not surprising that this 1951 winner of the Tony for ‘Best Musical’ remains a firm favourite for school productions today.

The Sevenoaks production was a vibrant and thoroughly entertaining showcase of talent. Great songs need great voices, and we had these aplenty on stage. Seia (Sky) led the way with an enchanting performance, his magnificent voice doing full justice to those legendary classics. Camilla (Sister Sarah) delivered a ringing soprano voice that was as feisty as her well-characterised missionary, while Simona rocked the house with a jaunty, sneezing Adelaide. 

But this production didn’t rely on vocal performances alone, with theatrical and comedic talents equally dazzling. Sam delivered a truly standout all-round performance as Nathan Detroit (a role made famous in the film by Frank Sinatra), bringing great humour to the character. Sam used his physicality very well indeed throughout his performance, flailing hands and panicky eyes conveying most humourously the desperate plight of a lifelong fiancé with nowhere to stage his game. Alongside Sam, Gabriel captured the iconic role of Nicely very… well, nicely, delivering the big number ‘Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat’ captivatingly not once but twice. 

Malachy worked hard as Benny, fitting this in alongside turns as a Havana dancer and a New York waiter, and he will undoubtedly be seeking (and deserving) bigger roles next time out. Austin (Harry the Horse), Lawrence (Big Julie), Nysha (Bobby), and Billie (Rosalie) performed smaller roles with finesse while Austin (Brannigan) ran around trying to catch them in an equally strong performance. The Salvation Army contained plenty to enjoy in Anaia’s assertive General Cartwright and KC’s Arvide, whose rendition of ‘More I Cannot Wish You’ was absolutely charming. It is astonishing to think that this talented crew formed just one of the two casts on show throughout the week, and there were no doubt further excellent performances among the ‘York’ cast.

It was lovely to see how many students were willing to throw themselves into the wider off-stage demands of this production – wherever one looked, there were students joining in, manning the lighting and sound, changing the scenery, working the follow-spots, and helping with props and costumes. Service is prized highly at Sevenoaks and the willingness to serve this production in umpteen unseen ways was evident throughout and admirable. This was a magnificent team effort and the many unsung heroes should all know they have played their part in helping to realise a cracking overall production.

Putting together a musical to this standard is quite a challenge for any director and, given that the school has not staged a musical for some years, it is surely trilby hats off to Dr Hartley for his determination to restore musicals to the Sevenoaks stage and his success in so doing. That success also owed much to Director of Music Mr Dyer, who ensured the highest standards of singing and playing were delivered both by the cast and by the excellent band, hiding up in the rafters of the glorious Sackville Theatre. Mrs Hargreaves as Producer/Costume Manager and Ms Rhatigan as Choreographer also clearly contributed much to the production, ensuring a magnificent effort from both staff and students together.

I don’t know about ‘Rocking the Boat’, but these Sevenoaks Guys and Dolls were certainly rocking the stage in what we hope will be the first of many more such confident musical productions. It was a performance not to be sneezed at!

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