Hazel reviews The Return to the Forbidden Planet

Production Review by Hazel S


On Tuesday 22nd the whole of Yr 6, Yr 5, and Yr 4 did two performances of our end of year production ‘Return to the Forbidden Planet.’ The first one was early in the morning, and the hall was about three quarters full. The first scene was the role call. Oisin started the play by shouting out to “All Crew.” First everyone declared themselves present, then the preflight checks were commenced, the Polarity Reversal drill demonstrated, and the Science Officer was introduced.


The captain of the ship, Captain Tempest and the Science Officer had a huge fight and sang This is a Mans World, all because the Science Officer was a woman. To take the heat out of the situation, the Damage Control tried to help, but ended up getting in a muddle with the Fire and Evacuation Officers. Then the ship flew into an asteroid storm predicted by the Weather Officer, and at the same time the Science Officer escaped on a shuttlecraft. After the storm, the ship got caught in a tractor beam from a strange planet D’ylliria, on which lived Prospero, the evil scientist, his daughter Miranda and his robot Ariel.

Prospero explained why he needed their help and came aboard with Ariel. The translators translate Ariel’s speech until he tells them to go away. Because the captain planned a huge feast for Prospero, the Fitness Officers instructed a workout for all crew and passengers. Then on came Miranda, and Cookie, the ships cook, instantly fell in love with her. He sang Good Vibrations. The doctor on the ship was worried as he thought that vibrations on the ship could be harmful, and so his nurses showed him why they weren’t.

Then Miranda gave Cookie a kiss on the cheek, and he was overjoyed, and sang I Ain’t Gonna Wash for a Week. Ariel discovers that the Science Officer is returning to the ship, and tells Bosun, the Commander of the Bridge. Ariel then explains to Captain and Bosun about the secret drug that Dr. Prospero created. Prospero overhears and gets angry, singing I’m Gonna Change the World. Miranda then asks her father why he is angry, as she is in love with Captain Tempest. Prospero grows mad with rage and slaps Miranda, who cries. She sings Teenager in Love. She asks Captain if he loves her and he says she is too young, and sings Young Girl. Cookie comes on feeling sad as he has just found out that Miranda is in love with Captain Tempest, not him. He then sings She’s Not There.

 Miranda, Cookie and Prospero all feel very confused and sing All Shook Up. Suddenly the Science Officer is found on the Radar being chased by a monster. Then Ariel and the Science Officer arrive in the airlock, and the crew sing Gloria. It turns out the Science officer is Gloria, Prospero’s evil wife! Ariel fights the monster until the spies come and wrestle with it, then Ariel zaps it with a laser. Gloria is sent to jail and Ariel sings Who’s Sorry Now. A damage report arrives, the Klystron Generator is overloaded.

Meanwhile, Cookie makes a deal with Gloria to win Miranda and obtain the Xfactor blueprints. The spies overhear them and begin to search for the blueprints. The ship then reaches condition Alpha, and the only way to repair it is by Reverse Polarity! The ship is fixed and Gloria sings Tell Her. Then Miranda tries to attract the Captain by slapping on makeup. In fact it scares him! Ariel thinks that she should try and make him jealous, so she pretends to like Ariel and sings Robot Man. Then Cookie arrives with the stolen blueprints and there is a huge fight, which ends up with Ariel eating the blueprints. Another monster is created from the mind of Ariel. Prospero has to fight it to destroy it, and Gloria sings Go Now, before he leaves. After he has gone they discover that Prospero also created D’ylliria! The planet self destructs, and the ship takes off into space. Then everyone sings the finale of Hey Mr. Spaceman, Monster Mash and Great Balls of Fire. Then there are bows and it’s the end of the production!