Production Arts students offered more work at Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre following successful trial

L2R: Lily, Fin, Tom, Sam and Emma

Five Production Arts students from Brockenhurst College performed so well during a recent spell working at Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre that they have been asked back.

The first and second year Level 3 students worked on the weeklong run of musical comedy-drama Kinky Boots, which was staged by Bournemouth based production company BBLOC.

Kinky Boots tells the story of a struggling shoe factory owner who strikes up an unlikely partnership with a drag queen.

Fin Ryan-Smith, Lily Roake, Emma Moran, Sam Rattue and Tom Pinder gained hard-to-beat experience in set automation, lighting, stage management, costume, sound and logistics during the six shows last month.

Pavilion Production Manager Duncan Hook had no hesitation in requesting the group back for the next BBLOC production and now wants to strike up an ongoing partnership with Brock.

He said: “It was brilliant to be joined by the technical students from Brock and to share our experience of staging Kinky Boots with them.

“We simply couldn’t have put on the standard of show we did without their help, which is praise indeed for students at their stage of training.

“Their eagerness, enthusiasm and technical ability was a huge credit to themselves and the College, and we’re looking forward to welcoming more students into our ranks in the future.”

And pure coincidence meant the group worked alongside former Brock student Morgan Saunders, who is now Theatre Technician at the Pavilion, and Brock leaver Jess Dawson-King, who played the character of Lauren.

Production Arts Lecturer Alexa Phillips said: “News of an ongoing partnership means more fantastic industry experience for our students; meanwhile, it represents industry validation for the quality of Production Arts teaching and learning at Brock.

“We are incredibly grateful to Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre and BBlock for this opportunity – the students can hardly wait for the next show.”

You can find out more about BBLOC at https://bbloc.co.uk/