Students tune into the roaring Twenties (From Echo)

Students tune into the roaring Twenties

11:00pm Friday 25th November 2011 in Leisure By Hannah Marsh

THE roaring Twenties will be brought to life by East 15 students in a show that’s part cabaret, part exploration of the time when Southend was at the forefront of radio manufacture and, therefore, of modern music itself.

The performance follows a group of factory workers who want to transform their local pub from folk band haven to an up-to-date jazz den.

Director Ainslie Masterton says: “There are songs and comedy sketches. It is set in 1928 and it’s all original material from the Twenties.”

Although the story has been invented, the students, all on the acting school’s community theatre course, have painstakingly researched the period in Southend, right down to the factory workers’ exact uniforms.

Ainslie says: “The premise is the local girls work in EK Coles’ factory, which made Bakelite radios in Southend in the late Twenties, become tired with the entertainment on offer.

“They want to hear all the new, shiny jazz tunes they’re hearing on the radio.”

Some real gems were uncovered by the students as they tracked down original songs.

Ainslie says it’s meant to be an accurate, but fun-filled romp through some of the more hilarious numbers and sketches on the circuit in the Twenties.

She adds: “It’s a Christmas show. It’s a chance to come and have a giggle.”

Bakelite Radio Days Clifftown Theatre, Nelson Street, Southend.

November 29-December 1, £5-£8 7.30pm, 01702 328335