A long tradition of drama at the Jesuit public school Stonyhurst College continues with a production of the popular farce Daisy Pulls It Off! by Denise Deegan.
The play is a parody of adventure stories that are set in English boarding schools for girls such as the works of Angela Brazil. For the new production, the 400-year-old Lancashire school was tranformed into Grangewood School for Young Ladies.
A spokesman said: “A jolly good audience had a ripping time watching the workshop production of Daisy Pulls It Off!
The lucky scholarship girl from a poor background, Daisy Meredith, was played energetically by Madeleine O’Dwyer. Together with her resourceful friend, Trixie Martin, played by Mary Flanagan, Daisy overcomes snobbish schoolgirl pranks from girls from wealthier backgrounds to find missing treasure and, in a twist at the end, her long-lost father.
Andrew Johnson, the headmaster, said: “This highly entertaining production was a demonstration of our young actors’ versatility and talent, who excel equally in Sondheim’s musicals and Shakespeare, as they did in this hockey-stick comedy.”
Stonyhurst has several former pupils who entered the National Youth Theatre. Twelve places were awarded over the past six years, and three this year.
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