A World Divided, an epic new musical premiered last night (17th April) at Milton Keynes Theatre.
The musical penned by Christopher Edwards is superbly written both in terms of the book and the score. An enthralled audience lapped up the first ever performance of the show.
Set in a post apocalyptic world where two rival tribes, the Westonians and the Caledonians live separated, divided as the title suggests. When Hera, the leader of the Caledonians, hears of plans the Westonians have for building machines that could be used against his people he declares war.
Hera’s daughter Sarabande takes it upon herself to march across the barren lands and bring peace to the world. Along the way Sarabande makes discoveries that change her journey and the fate of the world.
It’s clear how much time and dedication has gone into making this show. Set design comes from Edwards, Graham Clarke and director Larry Stubbings and is effective in creating the world, this is helped by superb graphic design from Peter Dobbin which serves for the various landscapes along the journey.
Lisa Kinrade’s excellent costumes show clearly define tribe is which, the more rugged Caledonians compared to the steampunk enthused Westonians. It’s an impressive array of costumes especially the Westonians, even more impressive was the array of people in the audience who cosplayed their own versions. Graham Clarke also designs and creates puppets including horse Fidelis which is puppeteered brilliantly by Holly Mellor and Chloe Agass.
Elizabeth Kinrade is every part the heroine as Sarabande, with delightful stage presence she embodied the character with believable skill and control. Kinrade leads with confidence and has stunning vocals. Kinrade feels every part a star.
Andrew Hooper excels as Argon, who becomes a key role to play in Sarabande’s quest for peace. Hooper shows great charm and warmth. A bit of light relief comes from Paul Briggs as Fleshy Keshy Man, who lives alone in the word barren lands, Briggs sings up a storm with a second act solo.
Peter Corrigan’s Hera goes on a great journey from likeable to pure evil towards the end. He relishes in the darker moments of the character managing to sensitively not go too far into panto villain territory. His rival Mat Soulsby as Arkle, the leader of the Westonians, plays off greatly to Sarabande and Hera in the ultimate showdown.
Erika Sanderson impresses as the narrator who helps drive the story along and looms on the stage watching along as the action unfolds.
A talented ensemble play an array of roles in either tribe, there’s a great sense of community to the production and that comes across in everyone’s performances, clearly there’s so much fun had. The kids particularly stand out when playing the ravaging Kesh tribe.
The music by Edwards is outstanding and will have you tapping your foot along throughout as the you feel the beat of the drums. Be it ballads or grander rockier numbers like “Follow Me” it’s a soundtrack that alone is worth checking out (see bottom of the post). The fantastic solo numbers are all sung well. An on stage band are stunning and make a thunderously good noise throughout.
The first act was plagued with some technical glitches, particularly with the sound, but everyone dealt with these well and appeared unfazed. The second act felt much smoother without the issues and that helped the whole thing to play out at a better pace after the interval.
All in all though, A World Divided is an epic new musical adventure full of passion and song. The songs drive the action along and are endlessly entertaining as are the cast. The future should be bright for this show and its cast. Massive fun.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A World Divided plays at Aylesbury’s Waterside Theatre on Friday 26th May with tickets available from https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/a-world-divided/aylesbury-waterside-theatre/. To find out more about the show visit https://www.skyboatproductions.co.uk/
You can listen to some of the songs from the show’s soundtrack;
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