Children show in London
Children from several schools in Walworth, where Chaplin grew up, put on a fabulous presentation of Charlie Chaplin’s South London at the Unicorn Theatre on June 27th 2008.
p(horizontal). !/images/photos/0000/1487/Surrey_Square_infants_school_play_the_spoons_normal.jpg! !/images/photos/0000/1486/Surrey_Sqaure_infants_school_clog_dancing_normal.jpg!
They showed us how children in Victorian times played and worked. Particularly impressive were the Surrey Square infants school presentations of clog dancing, as Charlie would have danced with the Eight Lancashire Lads, and playing the spoons to a selection of popular music hall songs of the time.
Children from St Peter’s School Walworth enacted Charlie and Sydney’s childhood, including time at the workhouse, with panache. One child quoted from My Autobiography beautifully and brought tears to the eyes. Crampton School played out scenes from a Victorian childhood, reminding us that even in the direst poverty, white starched clothes were the norm. Their enactment of the workhouse showed how frightening it must have been for Charlie and Sydney.
Kids from Surrey School Junior School worked with “Tom Cross”:http://www.tomcrossanimation.com on a wonderful animated film, Charlie Chaplin meets the Kung Fu Cat.
We hope this will soon be available for you to see on “Tom’s website”:http://www.tomcrossanimation.com
St John’s Primary ended their great silent film on stage show with a rendition of Smile that had the whole theatre, local mayors, MP and parents alike, singing with them.
Sadly the theatre was not big enough for all the children to see each others acts and they had to wait patiently outside.
Hopefully, if this project is renewed, a larger venue could be found.
Jack McInroy, from the staff of St Peter’s School and huge Chaplin fan, dressed up as Charlie and amused the audience during the stage changes.
p(horizontal). !/images/photos/0000/1489/Tony_Merrick__Christopher_Chaplin_and_Jack_McInroy2_normal.jpg! !/images/photos/0000/1483/Tony_Merrick__Christopher_Chaplin_and_Jack_McInroy_normal.jpg! !/images/photos/0000/1485/Christopher_Chaplin_signs_autographs_normal.jpg! !/images/photos/0000/1491/Tony_Merrick__Christopher_Chaplin_and_Jack_McInroy3_normal.jpg!
Thanks to everyone who worked on this project. May there be many more!