Caroline Is A Firecracker Of A Performance That Will Have You Dancing In the Aisles.
By Ruth Kettle-Frisby – Guest Writer and Community Activist
Ruth is passionate about fostering positive change within the local community and regularly contributes insights and stories to The Havering Daily.
Caroline at Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch, is a firecracker of a production, encapsulating the magic of local East coast history with its lasting impact on popular music culture as we know it today.
A truly exceptional cast will sweep you off your feet for the ride of a lifetime in this fast-paced and unforgettable cacophony of swinging sixties classics that will get you twisting and shouting with hips shaking in your seat.
‘Caroline’ is a play on words, equivocating on the pioneering offshore ‘pirate’ commercial radio station that began in 1964, and its personification in the character of Caroline – the protagonist Robbie’s childhood sweetheart.
Originally marketed – somewhat patronisingly – at the lowest common denominator young ‘Caroline’s’ of its day, this was radio for the people, capturing the popular music zeitgeist of the age, as well as many fluttering hearts.
However, it’s not all plain sailing. Intergenerational tensions, painful sacrifices, misplaced loyalties and denial about the creeping expiry of Radio Caroline are enhanced with discordant scene changes, and lightened with a running joke about eggs.
Radio Caroline achieves valiant success in its fight to stay afloat, but the stakes rapidly increase in its battle for cultural independence vs the paternalistic establishment.
A valiant concoction of passion, access to the latest pop music releases, raw DJ talent, and commercial sponsorship and advertising secures explosive success. This is momentarily bolstered by the masterfully strategic promotion of the Isle of Man in exchange for its political power to block prohibitive bills, before succumbing to the aggressively litigious all-consuming BBC monolith.
Each actor/singer doubles as a highly proficient musician. Watch out for the immensely talented Jerome Lincoln and Perry Meadowcroft, their deft vocal talent being more than a match for exquisite performances by leading actors Claire Lee Shenfield, Jake Halsey-Jones, Joey Hickman and Gareth Cooper, who’s hilarious as the BBC’s curmudgeonly authoritarian pirate radio party pooper.
While a fairly hefty dose of artistic licence has been employed to tell this story to maximum creative effect, the production does justice to the widespread, enduring impact and significance of Radio Caroline.
The arts have long been the preserve of the elite, gate kept by the establishment for the upper classes in central city locations. Meanwhile, working class young people who struggle to get by have found innovative ways to access and shape their own DIY music culture and rebellion: from tuning into sophisticated pirate radio operations on a shoestring to recording the charts on a cassette player and organising warehouse raves…where there’s a will, there’s always been a way.
If the central rags to riches love story doesn’t tug at your heartstrings, the enduring spirit of Radio Caroline, and all that she represents for freedom of expression through independent broadcasting will.
Book your seats for this unmissable performance this week:
Ruth Kettle-Frisby
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