Four On Tour Amaze All With Adolphus Tips

Published by St Mary's Calne on Monday 27th of March 2023

On Monday 20th March, the cast and crew of this year's Four on Tour production, 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, arrived at The Egg Theatre in Bath for show day, armed with costumes and props. The challenge of the morning was to acclimatise to the theatre space and its very tight wing space and complete a technical rehearsal. Lottie, Issy and Miss Caldwell set up in the technical box to run our lighting and sound while our stage management team of Isla, Ophelia and Zaza took charge of backstage. After a busy morning preparing, the cast performed to the Fourth Form in the afternoon and a full house of family and friends in the evening.

The show, based on Michael Morpurgo's novel and adapted for stage by Emma Rice, tells the story of Lily Tregenza who loses her cat amongst the chaos of evacuating her home village of Slapton in Devon to make way for a military operation during World War Two. It also tells of the tragedy of Operation Tiger..

Imagine being told to leave your home…
Imagine American Soldiers occupying your house and land…
Imagine being 12 and angry, with only a cat to tell your secrets to…
Well, it happened, (most of it anyway) in Slapton Sands, Devon in 1944.

946 explodes everything we thought we knew about the D-Day landings, using music, puppetry, and foolishness to tell this tale of war, prejudice and love.

The show was full of fantastic performances. Congratulations to Jemima who beautifully captured the energy and humour of 12-year-old Lily. Other notable performances came from Eve, as the slow and unmoving Grandpa, and Alexandra, as the lovable and energetic Adolphus T Madison. Phoebe and Coco shone in their supporting roles of Sergeant Malarkey and Lord Somethingorother. Poppy saved the day taking on the role of Skunkhead at the very last minute following a cast injury. The show had many special highlights included, particularly our beautiful cat puppet, operated by Jessica, a cockney styled knees-up, a parachute, a recorder ensemble, a scooter - and plenty of glitter and confetti!

I am incredibly proud of the entire UIV Four on Tour cast and crew for their hard work, talent and dedication in putting this show together. It has been a memorable experience for everyone! Congratulations!

Miss Holly Darling
Director