As a National School Theatre Awards representative, it was a real delight to visit St Dunstan’s College on the evening of Saturday 14th March 2026 to watch the performance of Beauty and the Beast. Directed with skill by Mr Gregg and Mrs Money, this was a grand vision of a musical, with magnificent costumes and strong central performances.
The Great Hall at St Dunstan’s is a majestic and beautiful venue, and its conversion into a proscenium arch theatre for the evening worked perfectly, luscious purple framing the stage and adding to an atmosphere that was already powerful, with stern forbidding castle gates perfectly lit by a pinky-blue haze. This staging all left us more than ready to watch Beauty and the Beast, and who wouldn’t enjoy an evening with this wonderful musical classic?
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is a magical musical based on the 1991 Oscar-winning film. The story (for those who have been hiding in a cupboard for the last thirty years) has classic Disney simplicity. Prince meets witch. Prince is transformed into Beast. Prince meets eccentric inventor. Prince meets eccentric inventor’s beautiful daughter, Belle. Beautiful daughter meets household servants who are steadily being transformed into household objects. Beast and Belle fall in love. Village jock Gaston meets Beast and almost kills him. But this being Disney, everything comes right in the end. The songs are famously sumptuous – “Be Our Guest” and “Beauty and the Beast” being perhaps the two most famous. It is wonderful material to work with, and St Dunstan’s College did so beautifully.
In the central role of the beastly Prince, Sam delivered fully the authority, strength, and sensitivity required. His physical transformation into the Beast was remarkable and his characterisation found a lovely balance between teenage stroppiness and growing lovesick emotion. Sam’s rendition of “If I Can’t Love Her” was beautifully sung and emotionally powerful. Opposite him as the heroine of this fairy tale Belle, Isabel demonstrated great vocal strength in a succession of elegantly delivered numbers, including “Belle”, “Home” and “A Change in Me”. She brought appropriate grace and girl-power assertiveness to her characterisation of this Disney princess. The two together fully delivered the romantic centre of the piece.
As comic lead Gaston, Wilf was quite simply hilarious. Whether it was posing to display his muscles or reeling off a succession of crackingly-written one liners, Wilf repeatedly caught the imagination and the ‘chuckle muscles’ of the audience. Joe played a key part in supporting this as the sidekick Lefou, catching the demands of this character with skill, and the two together led the wider ensemble very effectively, particularly in the jolly inn-based song, “Gaston”. As the eccentric inventor-father Maurice, Rose provided further amusement and bemusement, just as the part requires.
The Beast’s enchanted household servants are arguably the beating heart of the show, and they all worked well together to deliver the strong performances and vocals required. Alberto quite literally lit up the stage as Lumiere, singing charmingly, acting his candlesticks off, flirting with the French maid, and delivering a suitably outrageous French accent throughout – Alberto’s Lumiere was, as his French compatriots say, a tour de force. Magnifique.
As Cogsworth, Cillian delivered a really first-class acting performance. His comic delivery of the one-liners was quite perfect and the audience particularly enjoyed his Baroque joke (as did I), immediately enhanced by a characterful look of being very pleased with himself and just the right little chuckle. Mind you, I suppose we should not be surprised at a clock displaying such excellent timing.
What a lovely part Mrs Potts is to play, and Jennifer captured this iconic character beautifully. She brought a perfectly pitched motherly warmth and reassurance to the role, delivering “Beauty and the Beast” in stunning vocal style. Kes “chipped” in, quite literally, very nicely too.
Zoe was quite wonderful as the Grande-Bouched Wardrobe Madame, and it was easy to imagine her as the sort of operatic soprano that might sit celebrated in her flower-filled dressing room. Manipulating that billowingly wardrobe-like costume in and out of that space was quite an art in itself.
As the French maid / feather duster Babette, Shani was a sparkling presence, demonstrating that there are truly no small roles when played with such flair, and her partnership with Lumiere was played perfectly.
The ensemble supported the action well throughout, not least in the creation of some ferocious red-eyed wolves, who captured the dangers of the forest sharply and with effective movement pieces. The musical numbers were filled with infectious enthusiasm; the cast tackled the much-loved songs with confidence and joy, creating moments that were both stirring and sweet. It must also be added that the costumes were magnificent and added to the spectacle of the show.
Another triumph for Mr Gregg and Mrs Money, and well done to the whole cast and crew for delivering a Beauty and the Beast that was a grand vision delivered with strength and style. You invited us to “Be Our Guest” and it was, indeed, a feast – a beast of a show and beautifully performed.