Home About Us Past Shows Youth Contact Us Guestbook BLOG WEST SIDE STORY February 2006 West Side Story began life as a staged musical play by writer Arthur Laurents and director/choreographer Jerome Robbins. A modern-day retelling of Shakespeare's tragic Romeo & Juliet, the play reworked the traditional love story in a radical translation that takes place in the streets of the Upper West Side of New York. Shakespeare's Montagues became the Jets street gang while the Capulets were the newly arrived Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks. Puerto Rican Maria and white American Tony play the lovers. We all know the premise by now. Two rival gangs face off on the West Side of Manhattan. Cops break it up. The two gangs decide to square off at a dance, where a boy meets a girl for the first time. But Boy's best friend is the leader of one gang, and Girl's brother is the leader of the other. Boy and Girl fall in love, then Girl asks Boy to stop the conflict between the two collectives. Boy can't resist Girl's charms, so he sets out to end the battle, but things go awry, spiralling downward toward an unhappy ending for all parties... Cast Credits Carmen Brookes (Maria) Neil Craven (Tony) Sarah Axcell (Anita) Iain Scott (Bernardo) Charlotte Hodgkinson (Velma) Calum Small (Action) Jodie Gould (Consuela) Matthew Fisher (Riff) Eric Coleman (Officer Krupke) Alun Brown (Lt. Schrank) David Parker (Glad Hand) David Alexander (Doc) Jodie Gould Carmen Brookes Suzannah Delaney Naomi Everson Amy Bruno Charlotte Hodgkinson Christian Bullen Iain Scott Mike Peters Paige O'Sullivan Dean Matthews Calum Small Matthew Fisher Michael Bennett Benjamin Jenkins Jenny Hunt Rachel Shankland Nicola Boyd-Anderson Kellie Harrington Amy Bruno Louise Ball Charlotte Hodgkinson Bethan Thorngate, Megan Howard, Alice Lloyd-Selby, Rhia Dutton, Laura Owens, Charlotte Andrews, Hannah Andrews, Rebecca Arcos, Grace Wagstaff, Katie Mills, Emily Crow, Sophie Owens, Georgia Graham, Megan Thickpenny, Joseph Bennett, Cerys Underdown, Megan Gray, James Pengilley, Lamara Dennis, Jemima Scott, Ophelia Scott, Anna Browning, Chloe Sargent, Lucy Dimond, Sophie Williams, Emma Braggins, Jack Benlican, Frankie Benlican   Cast Jets Riff - Matthew Fisher Tony - Neil Craven Action - Calum Small A-RAB - Michael Bennet Baby-John - Benjamin Jenkins Snowboy - Dean Matthews Sharks Bernardo - Iain Scott Maria - Carmen Brooks Anita - Sarah Axcell Chino - Christian Bullen Pepe - Mike Peters Sharks Skaters Rob Pruett, Joella Price American Girls Graziella - Nicola Boyd-Anderson Velma - Charlotte Hodgkinson Clarice - Amy Bruno Pauline - Jenny Hunt Anybody's - Paige O'Sullivan Puerto Rican Girls Rosalia - Naomi Everson Consuela - Jodie Gould Teresita - Suzannah Delaney Estella - Kellie Harrington Margarita - Louise Ball The Adults Doc - David Alexander Lt. Schrank - Alun Brown Officer Krupke - Eric Coleman Glad Hand - David Parker A girl - Rachel Shankland The Band Dave Short - Musical Director Jen Bostic Fraizer Patterson Ben Davies Dave Thompson Tom Jackson Ceri John Dave Wheeler Jonny Bruce Dave Griffiths Paul Jenkins Mike Rose Steve Tarner Felicity Panniers Michael Andrews     PUKKA is a non-profit organisation. All profits are donated to local community charities.