Freely adapted from Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby, this musical opens in a contemporary school where a new English teacher finds it difficult to gain the interest of his class. He overcomes this problem when he hits on the idea of turning the book they are studying, Nicholas Nickleby, into a musical.

We are swept back in time to the misery of Dotheboys Hall, where life is a matter of survival; avoiding the leaden hand of Mr Squeers and the daily dose of brimstone and treacle! The story ends happily with the children overpowering their captors: we return to the present day and find the class has learnt many lessons from the exercise. Since its production on BBC TV, Smike has enjoyed tremendous popularity.

Performance Photographs

Background

It was originally devised in 1973 at Kingston Grammar School by two teachers, Simon May (who became a successful television composer) and Clive Barnett, where it was again produced in December 2005. The third contributor was Roger Holman. The original cast featured Neil Fox.

It has also been performed many times by Amateur Dramatic societies around the UK and it is a very popular musical with people young and old.

St Ives Youth Theatre's first production - and what a final show! To think that a group of 12 – 14 year olds could produce such performances of such quality and emotion over 3 days was truly a wonder to witness.

The Writers

Simon May is a British musician and composer, best known for composing some of British television's best known theme tunes, including EastEnders and Howards' Way, and for composing the music for the 1988 film The Dawning.

Clive Barnett

Roger Holman