Young Voices Panel              

The Young Voices Panel are a diverse group of young people who come together regularly throughout the year, to share their views and opinions on theatre. In particular, the Panel get the opportunity to influence how Polka Theatre runs, and get the chance to express their views on our productions and facilities, as well as tell us what they’d like to see at Polka.

Young Voices members are all in Years 4 – 8 (ages 8-13 years) and each present a genuine interest in being a panel member and a lasting part of Polka. 

Panel members get exclusive backstage tours of the theatre, the opportunity to quiz the Artistic Director of Polka, sit in on the rehearsals of new plays, watch each production and give feedback to Polka, and generally begin to explore the ways in which we select our plays and market them.  

We invite people to join the Young Voices Panel when there is a place available and accept applications throughout the year. For more information or to join the waiting list, please email Clare or call 020 8545 8349.

Check out the reviews of Twist of Gold from members of Polka's Young Voices Panel: 

Twist of Gold review by Anna Millar 

Sean and his sister Annie are members of a poor Irish family who have a terrible run down house. They are set of on their way to America with an English Dragoon called Will to meet their father so they can reunite as a family while being forced to leave their dearly sick mother behind. But it isn’t easy I’ll tell you that. Off they go with a secret golden torc that their mother gave them for luck. The  golden torc had been passed down in their family for generations.

Will pays the ship captain to take the children overseas to America to meet their father .They meet a generous fiddle player named Donnelly. He teaches Sean to play the fiddle and Annie to dance a jolly Irish jig. When they finally arrive in Boston of they meet a mean man that tries to trick them out of their violin but another man called Lil’ Luke steps in to save the day.  Lil’ Luke works for two ladies named Miss Henry and Miss Martha (they are good sisters that help each other very much.) Miss Martha and Miss Henry let Sean and Annie stay at their house and let them eat and sleep with them and enjoy themselves but that night they knew they had to leave. They meet the Colonel who happens to be the brother of Miss Martha and Miss Henry. He helps them to the boiling dessert.

 Come join them as they meet more friends and cross the boiling hot dessert. Will they make it and find their father for good?

 You will just have to find out for yourselves.

This was an extremely interesting play. It was emotional, easy to understand and well acted. 

Twist of Gold review by Lucie Burns

I liked this play as I learnt a lot about Ireland. I thought that the characters were interesting. The play starts off in Ireland during the potato famine.  The main characters Sean (Charlie Hamblett) and Annie (Clare McMahon) are starving because of the famine and they need to leave their dying mother (Jo Castleton) to find their father (Clive Llewellyn), who has gone to America to find a better life for them all. Before they leave, their mother gives them the family’s golden torc, which has been in the family for generations, which she says they must look after and never loose.

From there, we follow the adventures of Sean and Annie as they travel to America to find their father. The play tells the story of the many people they meet (good and bad) and how Sean and Annie cope with the many obstacles in their journey by following the advice to “never look back”.

Sometimes this play made me sad, but it also made me laugh lots. My favourite scene involved the characters Miss Henry and Miss Martha. The actors were great and I would definitely recommend this play to my friends.

Twist of Gold review by George Donovan

Michael Morpurgo’s Twist of Gold was a play I will never forget because of the wide selection of colourful characters and fun storyline. It was a delight to watch because I could follow the storyline really easily but I would have liked to find out a bit more about the father character, but other than that the play was really enjoyable. I also thought it was amazing how many locations the play was set especially on a small stage. All in all I would love to watch this play again.

Twist of Gold review by Theo Peters

This fantastic play is about a boy, Sean O’Brian, (Charlie Hamblett) and his sister, Annie, (Clare McMahon), who have to flee Ireland as the famine is causing the plague and many people are dying. They have to leave their sick mother behind (Jo Castleton), and they set off to America to find their father. On the way they come across lots of different experiences. First they travel across the sea to America. On the ship the captain steals the O’Brian’s golden torc, a beautiful necklace which has been in the family for generations and which Annie and Sean had promised their mother to look after. On the ship Sean is also taught how to play the fiddle by Fiddler Donnelly (Ian Harris).

This story is definitely one to see. It is written well and it has been adapted well, although it gets a little confusing at times because most of the actors play so many different parts it’s often hard to tell who every one is!

I would recommend Twist of Gold for anyone over the age of 9.

I would give this production 4.5 Stars   

Twist of Gold review by Sophie Downes 

Exactly a week ago, I viewed the production of Twist of Gold. This is a story of two children venturing out to Boston in search of their Father, after making a heart-breaking choice by leaving their Mother behind. Due to the fact I had not heard of the play before, it was lovely to melt into the tale following, in admiration, the two individuals while they progressed on their way. As I did so, growing more sympathetic as the minutes flew by, it seemed that I was surrounded by the poverty, hardship and famine which were lurking everywhere in Ireland.

Annie and Sean, the children and main characters, are forced to make a decision to both remain with their sick mother and face the diseases that are coming, or flee to America, or Merica as Annie calls it, to seek their father. Eventually, after deep discussions and protests, the children sail across the seas, on a sailor’s pocket, with only a golden torc, a family heirloom, to protect them. On the ship they meet a generous being, the first of many, who presents a fiddle, introducing music to the grey world of theirs. In a twist of fate, the fiddle ends up in their hands, bringing life to the grey world that they know.

The gold torc and fiddle are the symbols of this story, and indeed, play a huge part. The gold torc is their protection, their hope and faith. The fiddle brings pieces of Ireland wherever they go, merging it with America, and causing memories to be come alive. Another thing worthy of being mentioned is the lighting. During a particularly stormy scene, strips of yellow lit up the darkness briefly, before vanishing again. This created the effects of lightning, thus making it as realistic as possible.

In conclusion, I enjoyed the delightful tale of Annie and Sean’s quest immensely. I do not have an improvement, but all I would say is to keep up the splendid work.