After many months of planning and preparation, Pink! the Musical set off on a 12-week tour around Scottish primary schools at the beginning of March. The yellow Hopscotch Theatre van is now zipping across the land, perhaps to park up in a playground near you!
There are three delightful actors who play all the parts in the show. Craig Anthony-Ralston plays Patrick, the central character who is very upset when he wakes up one morning to discover he has turned pink. Craig has a lot of songs to sing, and he always wows the audience when he walks across the stage on his hands! (Or should I say flippers?)
photo © Deirdre Hannon http://www.nofussphotography.com
Patrick’s Mum is played by Louise Montgomery, who sings a sweet lullabye to send Patrick to sleep. You can see in the picture below she is singing about the stars twinkling up high in the sky. Louise also plays Patrick’s best friend Arthur who tries to comfort Patrick about his terrible predicament.
Lucy Avison has to be three different penguins! She plays Patrick’s Dad, his other best friend Lulu and Doctor Black who can’t figure out how to fix Patrick’s mysterious pinkness. To show the difference between all of Lucy’s characters, the designer Socks Rolland looked at the illustrations of Pink! by Margaret Chamberlain and chose some simple props to give each one. So the Dad has big round glasses, a bow tie and a newspaper, the doctor has 1950s glasses and a stethoscope, and Lulu wears a bright yellow bow on her head and carries a school satchel.
photo © Deirdre Hannon http://www.nofussphotography.com
Here is Lucy as the Dad. You can see how simply the character can be changed with just a few little adjustments. Here she is again as Doctor Black, tending to poor worried Patrick:
photo © Deirdre Hannon http://www.nofussphotography.com
The other challenge for Socks the designer was how to create a flock of flamingos. With only three actors to work with, this would prove rather tricky… Because he is pink, Patrick decides to swim to the southern tip of Africa where he thinks he might fit in better with other pink birds. The flamingos are perfectly polite, but poor Patrick struggles to do anything they can do.
Here is Patrick meeting the flamingos for the first time. Socks has made their long necks and curvy beaks beautifully, and they look very much like the illustrations in the book. The little pink tutus give an impression of the flamingos’ bodies, and Lucy and Louise move the heads around as though there are four birds talking to Patrick.
As you can see, Patrick is very frustrated that he can’t do anything flamingos can do, so he decides to leave Africa behind and swim back home again. His friends are delighted to see him, and he gets to tell the whole class about his adventures.
In the end, Patrick discovers that being different is okay, and that his friends love him no matter what. The three penguins lead the children in a final rendition of the Fun to be a Penguin song with actions. Most schools are able to listen to the song in advance so that the children already know it when the show comes to their school.
At today’s performance at Bearsden Primary School the children really enjoyed singing along and waving their arms with Patrick and his friends. After every show, the schools fill in feedback forms to help us make improvements and identify our strong points. Here are some of the comments we’ve had so far:
Just a few of the brilliant comments we’ve had so far!
Each school that books the show also receives a Pink Resource Box with lots of goodies inside. These include a copy of Pink!, a CD of all the songs with the lyrics, fifteen resource sheets for classroom activities on a diversity theme, and a little beanbag fish to use in Circle Time as the “speaking toy.”
Click HERE to go to the Hopscotch Theatre website. There is also a short video on YouTube about the show produced by actor and filmmaker David Goodall, which you can see HERE.
Finally, I must thank Creative Scotland for the generous grant that made Pink! the Musical possible, as well as Sense Over Sectarianism and the Robertson Trust who have each funded an extra four weeks of touring to bring the musical to thousands more children this spring. The Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust has also funded performances in ten primary schools in Inverclyde. With all this support we are reaching out to children across the country to help them learn to respect difference and celebrate diversity. I hope one day we can make bullying of all kinds a thing of the past.
photo © Deirdre Hannon http://www.nofussphotography.com
Lynne Rickards author 
Congratulations! Glad to hear that the show has hit the road. LOVED the premiere…such a good story, great acting and fantastic songs. Hope it makes it’s way to Hyndland Primary!
Thanks, Sara! The actors have performed for over two thousand kids already and are looking forward to their well-deserved Easter break next week. The show will have two performances at the West End Festival in June, so lots more kids can see it there. Thanks for your lovely comments!
So lovely to see and hear about the show! It looks fantastic. Well done. (I’ve been a terrible correspondent lately … will catch up soon) Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth! Thanks for getting in touch – do you remember when we used to be IN shows like this? I am still traumatised from being kicked by a little audience member because I was the witch’s cat!
Congratulations! This looks fabulous! Laura
Hi Laura! Lovely to hear from you! We are AMAZED to see how tall Will has got. Always great to hear your news.
thank you SO MUCH for posting these pictures, they look FANTASTIC, have you got any sound available to listen to? I would love to hear the SONGS. Love from Margaret xx <(")
Hi Marg – great to hear from you! I will send you a CD of the music (should have done that ages ago). You’ll be “slipping and a-sliding, splashing and a-gliding” in no time!
Lynne, turning your book into a musical sounds like so much fun. Delighted for you.
Hi Moira – lovely to hear from you! Just back from the “wrap” party after the final performance of Pink ! the Musical. It’s been a great experience and I hope Hopscotch Theatre and I can continue our collaboration.