The production qualities are far stronger than the script in this fable of youthful love and rebellion. That comment should not be read as a great criticism, since the choreography is outstanding and supports a simple but effective design making the most of mobile ranks of school lockers, and multimedia presentation using film and music.
Davey Anderson has written a story about Brian Vernel’s Sparky, a schoolboy with ADHD, which makes him troublesome and apparently unintelligent.
His favourite class is detention, while the only teacher that he meets with any regularity is Mrs Kelly, Pauline Lockhart as a classroom-phobic who attempts to counsel the hopeless cases.
Sparky’s life changes when he falls for little Siouxsie, a Banshee in her own right, Samantha Foley taking the role of a retired teen witch.
Sparky takes against a teacher called Mr Murphy, Nick Rhys, and decides to mete out explosive revenge, with unexpected but eventually sweet consequences.
While the love story and school difficulties rarely spark (pardon the unintentional pun) excitement until the ending, the direction and choreography from Nick Bettles are exceptional, especially in the final sequence, which promotes this show on to a really high peak.