Review: Chesterfield College’s storming production of Our House

And 1980s ska band Madness.

Weaving a musical around the well-known songs of a band has become something of a theatrical tradition.

Our House, the Madness musical, harks back to a time when pop songs had tunes but the theme is modern and universal. It follows young Joe Casey (a marathon performance from Jordan Stanbrook) along two alternative paths: he follows his dead dad’s example, makes some wrong choices, and comes a cropper; or he makes his own choices which mean he looks like a loser, but he ultimately comes out on top.

Chesterfield College’s performing arts department chose Our House for their first full-scale musical production at the Pomegranate for two nights this week.

The cast of three dozen had all the energy and enthusiasm you’d expect from a group of performing arts students, not to mention a generous portion of plain old-fashioned talent.

They enlisted heavyweight help too: professional standard costumes and staging with slick changes; Jonathan Francis directing the seven-piece band, and lively, well-drilled choreography designed by Rebecca Langford.

The future beckons for these young performers.

LYNNE PATRICK