On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of going to see the second ever performance of Pentabus and New Perspectives’ original musical ‘Make Good’ at the Lakeside Arts Theatre here in Nottingham. The play is about the Post Office Scandal, and as both theatre companies involved in the production of this musical are rural, their joint purpose is to tell the stories of the small, intimate communities and individuals affected by the grave miscarriage of justice that was The Post Office Scandal. Jeanie O’hare (the writer) was incredibly thorough in ensuring that she interviewed and researched the scandal and spoke to many of the victims and their families, and in doing so, created her characters, born from interweaving stories from different individuals, ensuring a wide breadth of experiences are told throughout her play. The musical felt fresh and emotional, and as a still ongoing court case, it felt incredibly relevant to today’s society, and was not a story that I was largely aware of before.
I found that community felt like the absolute heart and crux of the performance, and could be seen on so many different levels. The multi-rolling of each actor and character enacts this, showing how tight-nit rural postal communities are, and establishing a sense of equality amongst us all, but the most important element of community came through in the music. One might question why a musical was selected as the way through which to tell such an abhorrent story, and perhaps was even a question I asked myself before watching, but the portrayal of The Post Office Scandal was dealt with such beautiful tact and respect that the music only added to the emotion and sense of togetherness in the play. Telling the outrageous story through the arts and music allows the stories of the victims to connect to audiences far more than they do in news headlines and articles. The music provides an emotional connection to the stories, and I found myself getting goosebumps and teary eyed at moments throughout watching, that could never be achieved in the same way by watching simple dialogue. Samuel Gosrani (a member of the cast) said himself in an interview we had before the show, that he felt that music is able to create a ‘community anthem’ – and in the terms of this musical, was a way through which victims’ characters can connect and find strength in their togetherness, as well as a way to get through to those who have ignored the news stories. Both he and the director Elle While, who we also had the honour of talking to before the performance, made it clear that the music was not there for the sake of creating a flashy musical, but was there to create the sense of community that is at the very centre of their theatre company and purpose of creating the performance. The sense of ‘community anthem’ was furthered by the local choir from Nottingham who joined the theatre company in their performance, and a new choir will join each location as the musical tours, creating a sense of connection to location and place, as well as the people who we live our lives with in our communities.
The speeches that punctured the reprise at the end of the play were incredibly moving, and tied in the relevance of the message about community and justice. The ending of the play felt most memorable and emotional for me, and I even shed a tear at Elsie’s (one of the main sub-postmaster characters) final speech. Each speech from each character acted as a reminder of how some people didn’t live to see themselves exonerated, and how cruel and unjust the scandal has been to not just individuals, but their families and friends, and stretches out far into their entire community. I liked how the name of the play acts as a call to justice that the Post Office must ‘Make Good’ their horrendous wrongdoing.
The musical was incredible, with phenomenal acting, cleverly positioned moments of comedy and poignance and gorgeous songs, and I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to have seen it – especially if I admit that it would not have normally been something I might have chosen to go and see.
Another huge takeaway from this experience was the importance in immersing myself in new and different Arts that are local and accessible to me. I aim to make the most of being in the city of Nottingham this year, which is something I regret not doing enough of last year. I know that theatre isn’t always the most affordable form of entertainment, but for example, Pentabus have a new incentive to try to get more young viewers to engage with their work, so they are giving away 10 free tickets to under 25 year olds at each performance they do. I cannot recommend enough trying to engage in these opportunities as much as possible during your time at University, and make the most of our location in Nottingham – such a vibrant and artistic city.