Merthyr Twist
We are incredibly proud of Greenfield pupils who took part in three performances of our Christmas show, Merthyr Twist, this week. We adapted the musical Oliver to be set in 19th century Merthyr Tydfil and called it Merthyr Twist. The show was adapted to be as inclusive as possible and parts were written for all pupils who came for the auditions in September. So, instead of the Artful Dodger, we had 3 Dowlais dodgers! We had the Sikes brothers, Fagin’s crew and Oliver had a friend called Twm who sang the solo songs with him.
The school’s curriculum during the autumn term has been based around the show Merthyr Twist. Pupils have been learning about their locality in the past and present. Pupils have enjoyed researching local industry, learning about life in the workhouse and visiting Big Pit to learn about the history of coal mining.
Merthyr Twist included the whole school, which was a big challenge with 174 pupils ranging from age 3 to 19. Each class took the lead in performing a song and the older pupils prepared a shadow puppet show for the introduction. The staff worked incredibly hard and the end result was much better than we could have ever hoped for. This proves that our children are talented and when we have high expectations, they rise to the challenge.
The show on Wednesday was attended by His Worship the Mayor, Cllr Declan Sammon, along with the school’s governing body and colleagues from the Local Authority. The main cast were able to meet His Worship the Mayor and our other VIP guests following the performance.
The pupils grew in confidence with each performance and said they loved the experience and are already making plans for next year. We really believe that some dreams have come true, and our pupils felt like superstars on the West End stage. We have had really positive feedback from parents and friends of Greenfield. There were many tears during the performances from both parents and the staff.
Congratulations to the pupils and the staff of Greenfield school for their outstanding performance of Merthyr Twist.
Rhiannon Stephens Davies,
Head Teacher, Greenfield School