Magdalen College School announced the world premiere of two new musicals this term: Leave it to Puck! and Birdland. The shows were performed back-to-back at the Oxford Playhouse on Thursday 30 June, Friday 1 July and Saturday 2 July as part of the Oxford Festival of Arts 2022.

Leave it to Puck!

Written by MCS teachers Alex Thomas and John Mann, Leave it to Puck! is a modern musical fairy-tale about what happens when we’re handed our wildest dreams on a plate.

You’d have thought he might have learned his lesson, but four hundred years on, mischief-loving Puck is still causing romantic mayhem in an enchanted wood. One day his magic misfires, leading a young girl, Willow, and her parents into a life they hadn’t bargained for…

A proud showcase of the very best MCS singing, dancing and acting, Leave it to Puck! is a riotous celebration of family, fairy dust and fun.

 

Birdland

A collaboration between renowned choral composer Bob Chilcott and award-winning poet Charles Bennett, Birdland is an enchanting musical drama, set in a world in which those with the best voice have the most power.

Pip is a young sparrow with a song in his heart and a dream to sing just like his idol, the Golden Nightingale. He’s desperate to join the prestigious Dawn Chorus, but they’ve got other ideas. Will Pip sell his soul to the glamourous Doc Rock Peacocks or lose his way in the Bewilderness? Or will he be able to find his true voice?

At a special schools’ performance on Thursday 30 June, the MCS cast was joined by nearly four hundred local primary school pupils for what promises to be a wonderful celebration of music, theatre-making and community.